Portland @ Toronto preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 13, 2019 ) Toronto 114, Portland 106

The Toronto Raptors rebounded from their worst offensive performance with one of the best as the team continues to navigate through a series of injuries to key players. The Raptors will try to find some consistency and pick up back-to-back wins when they host the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday.

Toronto shot 31.5 percent from the floor, including 6-of-42 from 3-point range, in an 84-76 loss at Miami on Thursday but was a different team on Saturday, when it exploded for 73 points in the second half and breezed to a 121-102 victory at Brooklyn. The starting backcourt of Kyle Lowry and Fred VanVleet combined to go 3-of-23 from beyond the arc against the Heat but knocked down 10-of-20 against the Nets. The Trail Blazers are losers of six of their last seven contests and followed the lone win in that span - a 122-103 triumph at Washington - with a 122-111 setback at Miami on Sunday. "We didn't compete hard enough in the first half," Portland coach Terry Stotts told reporters after the loss. "They had us on our heels from the outset. We missed some shots and they got the rhythm offensively and we were on our heels the whole first half."

TIME: 7 p.m. ET. TV: NBCS Northwest, TSN 1/4/5

ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (15-22): Portland fell into a 19-point hole at the break on Sunday and All-Star point guard Damian Lillard tried to drag the team back into the contest in the second half. "The moment we stood our ground and got more aggressive, the game completely changed," Lillard, who collected 34 points and 12 assists in the loss, told reporters. "I think we just dug ourselves too big of a hole. It's hard to play from 20 points down on another team's floor, especially a good team like them." Lillard scored 30 or more points in five of the last six games and was operating on Sunday without backcourt partner CJ McCollum, who is day-to-day due to illness.

ABOUT THE RAPTORS (24-12): VanVleet, who went 1-of-11 from beyond the arc against the Heat, scored a team-high 29 points on 11-of-19 shooting (5-of-8 from 3-point range) at Brooklyn but left late in the game with a back injury. "Just felt a little tightness, a little tweak," VanVleet told reporters. "So just, obviously, the game was pretty much in hand. Before it got carried away, I just took myself out." Toronto is already running a tight eight-man rotation with Pascal Siakam (groin), Marc Gasol (hamstring) and Norman Powell (shoulder) out, but VanVleet is not expected to miss any time.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Trail Blazers C Hassan Whiteside is averaging 19.2 points, 17.8 rebounds and 3.4 blocks over the last five games.

2. Raptors PF Serge Ibaka (ankle) is day-to-day.

3. VanVleet scored 30 points as Toronto earned a 114-106 victory at Portland on Nov. 13.

PREDICTION: Raptors 116, Trail Blazers 111