The Toronto Raptors aim to regain their winning touch during a five-game homestand that starts Tuesday night against the Portland Trail Blazers.
The Raptors have dropped two in a row after losing 116-94 to the New York Knicks on Sunday. Their nine-game winning streak crashed to a halt on Saturday when they wasted a 17-point first-half lead in a 118-111 overtime loss to the Charlotte Hornets.
The Trail Blazers will open a five-game road trip at Toronto after taking their second straight loss on Sunday, a 123-115 defeat to the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Trail Blazers are the only team to beat the Thunder this season, which they accomplished Nov. 5 by a 121-119 score.
The Raptors’ loss to the Knicks was a preview for an NBA Cup quarterfinal matchup between the teams, which Toronto will host on Dec. 9.
Sunday’s game could have contained some valuable lessons. The Knicks stormed to a 41-22 lead after one quarter and stretched the margin to 24 in the second quarter.
“Starts with that first quarter, really,” said Immanuel Quickley, a former Knick who led the Raptors with 19 points. “They jumped out, a lot of easy shots and we’ve got to take those away.”
The Raptors pared the margin to three in the third quarter.
“We just picked up our defensive intensity,” Quickley said.
But it was not enough and the Knicks pulled away again.
“At the start of the game they were really hot,” Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic said. “We did not do a good job of finding their hot shooters.”
The Knicks had a 61-40 advantage in rebounds. Brandon Ingram, who has been a hot shooter for Toronto, was held to 14 points.
The Raptors were without center Jakob Poeltl, who rested for the second game of the back-to-back with a back issue. RJ Barrett remained out with a knee sprain.
The Trail Blazers stayed with the Thunder for most of Sunday’s game but faltered and were outscored 38-28 in the fourth quarter.
Portland has had problems fielding a full lineup. The latest absentee was leading rebounder Donovan Clingan, who was ill and did not play Sunday.
The Trail Blazers did get a strong effort from Deni Avdija, who recorded his fourth career triple-double with 31 points, 19 rebounds and 10 assists.
“We have a lot of key players missing and it’s very noticeable,” Avdija said. “But I’m so proud of the guys that came in and filled those roles. We’re in these games, we’re winning some games, we’ve given a fight to the champions of the NBA. You can’t take it for granted.”
“I hate to call this a moral victory, but I think we competed,” interim coach Tiago Splitter said. “We had a chance to win the game. This is a great team and it’s hard to play against them. We tried everything we had. Different matchups. Going small. Going big. Zone. Trap. But at the end of the day, you’ve still got to make shots and they were able to make more than us.”
Portland won both games against Toronto last season.
