After a 4-3 road trip, the Toronto Raptors will open a five-game homestand Wednesday night against the floundering San Antonio Spurs.
The Raptors completed their trip with a 106-103 victory over the undermanned Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday.
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Still without O.G. Anunoby because of a wrist injury, the Raptors overcame a 15-point deficit against the Grizzlies, who were without starters Ja Morant, Steven Adams and Dillon Brooks.
“It’s a great way to end the trip,” said Fred VanVleet, who scored 15 points on Sunday. “We competed and I thought we played some really good basketball for the majority of a long trip like this for a young team like ourselves, we got to close it out with that fourth quarter on a night where nothing really was going our way. We hung in there and made a couple more plays at the end and came out with a victory.
“Rightfully so, we’re going to criticize ourselves and be harder on ourselves, but we should be proud of our effort and being able to come out here with a win (Sunday).”
The Spurs have lost nine straight after losing to the Chicago Bulls 128-104 Monday night to begin a nine-game road trip.
Keldon Johnson led San Antonio with 21 points.
The Spurs were without rookie Jeremy Sochan (sore lower back), who is doubtful for Wednesday’s game.
Sochan has played well this season and was selected for the Rising Stars game Feb. 17 during the All-Star Game weekend. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has compared him to Hall of Famer Manu Ginobili, a former Spurs stalwart.
“He’s wild,” Popovich said. “He’s doing whatever he wants. I just love watching him. It’s kind of like watching Manu when we first got him — I have no idea what he’s going to do. … He’ll make some glaring mistakes but veterans do the same thing so we’re thrilled with his progress.”
Tre Jones (sore left foot) also did not play for the Spurs in Chicago. Jones and Johnson (ankle) are questionable.
“As usual, great effort,” Popovich said. “And, as usual, collapse down the stretch — mostly due to turnovers tonight.”
With the trade deadline looming Thursday, the Spurs made a deal on Tuesday. They acquired 33-year-old center Dewayne Dedmon and a 2028 second-round draft pick from the Miami Heat for cash.
Dedmon played for the Spurs in 2016-17 but his future with the team this time is not certain. He could be traded or waived.
Meanwhile, Raptors coach Nick Nurse confirmed Tuesday that Anunoby will not play against the Spurs.
Anunoby suffered a sprained left wrist in the Raptors’ 129-117 loss to the Golden State Warriors on Jan. 27.
“O.G. is on the court doing some work,” Nurse said. “No contact yet or practice, but he’s progressing well. That’s where we are.”
Nurse would like to see the Raptors play the relentless type of defense that they are capable of for a full game.
“There’s 34, 32, 36 minutes of really good defense,” Nurse said after the game on Sunday. “We just need to kind of keep extending that out a little bit to be a little bit more of who we want to be.”
The Raptors defeated the Spurs 143-100 on Nov. 2 in San Antonio in the first game between the teams this season. Pascal Siakam had 22 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds in only 28 minutes.
–Field Level Media
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