NBA Preview from The Sports Network
Tuesday, December 18th
(All times Eastern)
Toronto Raptors (6-19) at Cleveland Cavaliers (5-20), 7 p.m.
(Sports Network) - Cleveland Cavaliers rookie Dion Waiters is hoping he can
return to the court Tuesday night versus the Toronto Raptors.
Waiters said his conditioning is good after Monday's practice after he has
missed eight straight games with a sore left ankle. The first-year phenom is
averaging 15.2 points and 3.4 assists this season for a struggling Cleveland
team that could use his services.
"I felt good out there," a perspiring Waiters said Monday.
The former Syracuse star said he worked out at least two to three times a day
to strengthen the ankle. Cleveland can only hope the hard work has paid off
and will try to get back into the win column at home versus Toronto. The
Cavaliers have lost three in a row and eight of nine games, including a
103-102 setback against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
Reigning Rookie of the Year Kyrie Irving scored a career-high 41 points and
made 15-of-25 shots from the floor. Irving scored 17 points in the fourth
quarter alone and buried 5-of-8 3-pointers. Irving has scored 20-plus points
in 10 of his 14 games played and leads the team with 23.8 ppg.
"Kyrie (Irving) took over in the second half," Cavaliers coach Byron Scott
said. "We made some mistakes that got us in trouble. For the most part we
battled, we competed and we played with (a) sense of urgency."
C.J. Miles tallied 17 points and eight rebounds for Cleveland, which will try
to improve its 3-7 home record. Cleveland will play its second straight four
games in five nights set Tuesday.
Toronto looks to put the brakes on an 11-game road losing streak and is just
1-14 away from Canada. The longest road losing streak in Raptors history is a
14-game slide, which has happened twice. The last time was January 7-March 16,
2011.
The Raptors have won two in a row -- both at home -- following a six-game
slide and haven't put together a three-game winning streak since April 1-4,
2012. In Sunday's 103-96 victory versus Houston, Jose Calderon recorded his
second triple-double of the season with 18 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds.
Alan Anderson netted 24 points and DeMar DeRozan added 19 points and seven
boards for Toronto, which recorded a season-high 13 blocks and season-low
seven turnovers. Amir Johnson led the way with a season-high five blocks.
"The key was we didn't turn the ball over. In the first half we gave up
threes, in the second half we held them. We're getting back to playing
defense," Toronto head coach Dwane Casey said.
Toronto is riding its first two-game winning streak since last April 13-15.
DeRozan has played well in his career against the Cavaliers, averaging 14.0
points and 3.4 rebounds in 11 meetings. In his last five games overall,
DeRozan is averaging 17.6 points and 5.0 boards. Ed Davis, who had 13 points
in the win over the Rockets, is averaging 12.6 ppg in his previous five.
Raptors center Andrea Bargnani (elbow) and guards Landry Fields (elbow) and
Kyle Lowry (triceps) are all still sidelined.
The Raptors took three of four matchups from the Cavs a season ago and have
won five of the past seven meetings between the teams. Toronto is unbeaten in
its last three trips to Quicken Loans Arena, but has dropped 13 of the
previous 18 contests at the Q.
12/18 10:34:51 ET

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