Losers in four of their last five

The Toronto Raptors have now dropped four of their last five games. On Wednesday, during Kawhi Leonard’s ring presentation and first game back in Toronto, they got dominated by the LA Clippers, 112-92, as they turned the ball over 18 times and shot a season-low 35.2%. With the loss, the Raptors fell to the fifth spot in the East with a 16-8 record.

Pascal Siakam’s (24.5 PPG) responsibility just got bigger this past week, when his co-starter and the team’s key playmaker, Fred VanVleet (18 PPG, 7 APG), went down with a knee injury. He missed the previous contest and currently listed as day-to-day.

The Raps’ other floor general, Kyle Lowry, is coming off an injury and has been quite off ever since returning. Though the facilitating is there (7.4 APG in his last five), he has thrown a ton of bricks during that span (28.6 FG%).

Toronto is 9-3 at home this season, but has only shot 39.6% in its last five outings.

The Nets have improved without Kyrie

The Brooklyn Nets have been slowly rising from the underwhelming start, which, interestingly enough, began after their All-Star point guard, Kyrie Irving, got sidelined with a right shoulder injury. They have won nine of 13 games in that span and currently own a 13-11 record, good for seventh in the East.

Spencer Dinwiddie has stepped up the most in Irving’s absence. He entered the starting line-up to fill the spot, and with his playmaking and scoring ability, has put up 23.8 points and 7.5 assists in the last 13 games. The 26-year-old will be in an interesting match-up with Lowry and the other Raptor guards.

The two old Nets, Jarrett Allen and Joe Harris, along with newcomer Taurean Prince, are also producing well in the past couple of weeks. Harris and Prince are relishing the “three and D” role more, while Allen is showcasing his big man play. He has averaged 16.4 points and 12.8 rebounds in his last eight.

Brooklyn is 6-6 on the road this season.

PREDICTION:

Dinwidde could be a handful for the Raptors, but they’ll survive the Nets’ strong play and earn a 109-103 win.