Raptors at Hornets
The Toronto Raptors blasted opponents by an average of 21.3 points while sweeping a four-game homestand but will play two of their final three games before the All-Star break on the road. The Raptors will try to stay hot when they leave Canada to visit the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday.
Toronto made a case for Atlanta Division dominance by beating Boston and the New York Knicks by a total of 45 points in the last two contests and is a half-game behind the Celtics in the race for the top spot in the Eastern Conference. The recent surge convinced the team to stay out of any major deals at Thursday's deadline, and instead the Raptors will look to add a veteran off the waiver wire before March 1. "We have to figure out how to fix as we go and some of these fixes are not immediate and there's some impact on our team where, yes, you can get help and there's some times where that help is not necessarily that positive," Raptors president Masai Ujiri told reporters. The Hornets stayed away from any major moves as well before falling 106-94 at Utah on Friday to finish off a four-game trip with three consecutive losses.
TV: 1 p.m. ET, TSN4/5 (Toronto), FS Southeast (Charlotte)
ABOUT THE RAPTORS (38-16): All-Stars Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan combined for 15 points on 4-of-21 shooting against the Knicks but the bench stepped up as it has been of late. Pascal Siakam led five reserves in double figures with 14 points in the win after C.J. Miles led three reserves in double figures with 20 points in the win over Boston. "The second unit is playing the game the right way, they're executing defensively, they're getting after it," Toronto coach Dwane Casey told reporters. "They're assisting -- I don't know how many assists they had -- they're moving the ball, zinging the ball and making shots."
ABOUT THE HORNETS (23-32): All-Star point guard Kemba Walker's name was thrown out in early trade chatter, but he remained with Charlotte after Thursday's deadline and scored a team-high 19 points on Friday. Walker collected 41 points and nine assists in the last home game -- a 133-126 triumph over Indiana on Feb. 2 -- and he averages 23.2 points at home. Walker could use some help from center Dwight Howard, who went 5-of-18 from the floor in the final two games of the road trip and fouled out in just 21 minutes on Friday.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Hornets SG Treveon Graham totaled three points in the last two games after putting up 26 in the previous two.
2. Miles is 9-of-14 from 3-point range in three games since returning from a knee injury.
3. Toronto took each of the first two meetings this season, including a 129-111 triumph at Charlotte on Dec. 20.