The struggling Toronto Raptors hope to turn things around and avoid a third consecutive loss Friday night when they host the Phoenix Suns.
The Raptors have dropped six of eight after a 122-111 road loss to the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday.
In New Orleans, the Raptors opened the fourth quarter on a 10-2 surge to pull within two points with 10:15 to play. The Pelicans took over the game from there and led by 18 with 1:25 remaining.
“I thought we were getting good looks, but we just did not make shots,” Toronto coach Darko Rajakovic said.
The Raptors could not fully recover from the third quarter when they were outscored 33-25.
“At this point we’re just not playing our best basketball,” Rajakovic said. “Everything is in our control, how we’re going to respond, how we are going to stay together. All the keys are in our hands. The season is long. Every team goes through a slump where things are not going their way; we’re just in the middle of one now. We know how to get out of it.”
Immanuel Quickley scored 25 points and Brandon Ingram added 22 for Toronto on Wednesday.
The loss dropped the Raptors to seventh in the Eastern Conference.
“We’re going through a little rough patch but I think that is going to make us come together even more,” Ingram said. “We’ve just got to figure it out — what’s best for us offensively and defensively and just play a little harder and get the best results out of it.”
The Suns took their fourth in a row on Thursday with a 123-108 road victory over the Indiana Pacers. Devin Booker scored a season-best 43 points and Jalen Green added 36 points, also a season best, for the Suns, who have won six of seven. They are 2-0 to open a six-game trip.
Booker and Green have provided a large part of the scoring during the winning streak.
Green has played only 18 games with the Suns this season, mostly because of a hamstring injury.
“Part of it is that Jalen is catching more of a rhythm,” Suns coach Jordan Ott said. “We felt like he just needed some time trying to learn how to play off one another.”
Booker scored 19 points in the third quarter and Green scored 17 in the fourth.
“It’s special to see,” said Royce O’Neale, who scored 15 points for Phoenix. “They’re starting to find their rhythm playing off each other. They can get hot real quick. Devin in the third, Jalen closing us out. I think it’s going to be a tough challenge for the other team trying to guard those two, especially with our spacing.”
“With Book out there, a lot of attention is going to be on Book,” Green said. “A lot of opportunities out there. Once they adjust and everyone gets going, it’s pretty hard to stop.”
After their loss on Wednesday, the Raptors heard some criticism for their lack of response to New Orleans’ Dejounte Murray, who made a 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter and then taunted Toronto’s Jamal Shead.
“I don’t give it too much,” Rajakovic said. “Guys are competitive. It was pretty over the board, what (Murray) did. But I have to see it on film. I don’t want to make it more than it is.”
Toronto’s Scottie Barnes (illness) was listed as questionable for the Friday game.
