Raptors at Lakers
The Toronto Raptors have dropped the first three legs of their five-game road trip but are coming up on their best chance to steal a win. The Raptors will try to snap their three-game slide when they visit the lowly Los Angeles Lakers on Friday.
Kobe Bryant turned back the clock with 17 points, nine assists and eight rebounds in a home win over the Detroit Pistons on Sunday but sat out the second night of the back-to-back while the Lakers fell 120-101 at Phoenix. “They just outsmarted us,” Los Angeles guard Nick Young told reporters of Phoenix. “They shared the ball, out hustled us. We should learn from this game and learn how they play.” The Raptors squandered a fourth-quarter lead in Sacramento to start the trip, battled the Golden State Warriors into the final minute in a 115-110 loss on Tuesday and clinched a losing trip when they surrendered 34 fourth-quarter points in a 93-89 setback at Utah on Wednesday. "We are shooting ourselves in the foot with unsound defensive plays and unsound offensive plays,” Toronto coach Dwane Casey told reporters.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, SportNet 1 (Toronto), TWC SportsNet (Los Angeles)
ABOUT THE RAPTORS (7-6): Toronto trailed after the first quarter in each of the last two games and Casey is struggling to figure out the reasons for the slow starts. “All we can do is address it,” Casey told reporters. “If we don’t get a better start, the only alternative is to change the starting lineup. I don’t know if we’re at that point yet.” Starters Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan and DeMarre Carroll combined to go 14-of-40 from the field at Utah.
ABOUT THE LAKERS (2-9): One of the few positives for Los Angeles of late is guard Jordan Clarkson, who is averaging 19.3 points on 50 percent shooting in the last three games. The Missouri product emerged while getting more minutes in Bryant’s absence last season and has continued to be a presence even with the future Hall of Famer in the lineup most nights. The Lakers are shooting 32.6 percent from beyond the arc as a team, due in part to Bryant’s 23.3 percent, but Clarkson has connected on 7-of-12 3-point attempts in the last three games.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Lowry is 3-of-14 from 3-point range in the last two games.
2. Bryant (back, knee) was held out of practice this week but is probable to play on Friday.
3. The teams have split the two-game season series in each of the last three campaigns.