Toronto @ Phoenix preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 21, 2020 ) Phoenix 101, Toronto 118

The suddenly struggling Toronto Raptors will try to avoid their first four-game slide of the season when they visit the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday. The Raptors won 17 of 18 games before the current skid and are trying to fight through another round of injuries.

Toronto is trying to survive without centers Marc Gasol (hamstring) and Serge Ibaka (knee) and could not handle the size of the Denver Nuggets in a 133-118 loss that began a five-game road trip on Sunday. "I just think it seems like it catches up with you just a little bit here and there, and that's kind of just the difference in (Sunday's) game," Raptors coach Nick Nurse told reporters. "Like, there's a putback here and putback there and just some pretty easy offense when (Nuggets All-Star center Nikola Jokic) just goes down and parks in front of the rim and they throw it into him. There's not much we can do because of the sheer size and strength of it." The Suns are losers of three in a row as well and have been off since suffering an embarrassing 115-99 home loss to the NBA-worst Golden State Warriors on Saturday. "We have to stop feeling sorry for ourselves because of the injuries, whatever the case may be," Phoenix coach Monty Williams told reporters. "Thinking we don't have enough - we have enough. We had an 18-point lead in this game if I recall. We showed that we can start out, get a big lead. We just stopped doing what it took to get that lead. We gave those guys confidence."

TIME: 9 p.m. ET. TV: Sportsnet One, FS Arizona

ABOUT THE RAPTORS (42-18): All-Star power forward Pascal Siakam struggled to 16 points on 6-of-21 shooting - 1-of-7 from 3-point range - on Sunday and is shooting 36.2 percent during the three-game slide. "I gotta play better," Siakam told reporters. "As (a) leader of the team, you gotta play better. You can't have games like that, and I feel like it's been too many of those. I'm not playing well, obviously. I'm missing a lot of shots, easy stuff, shots I usually make you. I can't afford to not make those shots and especially when I get in front of the rim, I've gotta be able to finish that." Toronto managed to stay in the game on Sunday thanks to small forward OG Anunoby, who scored a career-high 32 points and grabbed a career-best seven steals - one game after setting his previous career mark with six thefts against Charlotte.

ABOUT THE SUNS (24-37): Phoenix was trying to make a run at the No. 8 spot in the Western Conference but has taken a nose dive in the last three games with forward Kelly Oubre Jr. (knee) sidelined and now sits 5 1/2 games behind the No. 8 Memphis Grizzlies entering play on Monday. "It's just a matter of going out there and really wanting it and that's what we lacked the past couple games," Suns forward Mikal Bridges told reporters. "We just have to go out there - I think just go home, look yourself in the mirror and see if you really want this, if you really want to win and if you really want to contribute." Bridges scored in double figures in each of the last three games while All-Star guard Devin Booker was held at or below his season scoring average (26 points) in each contest.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Raptors SG Fred VanVleet (shoulder) sat out the last two games and is day-to-day.

2. Phoenix PG Ricky Rubio finished with six points and eight assists on Saturday, snapping a string of four straight double-doubles.

3. Toronto owns a five-game winning streak in the series and breezed to a 118-101 home victory in the first meeting of 2019-20 on Feb. 21 behind 37 points and 12 rebounds from Siakam.

PREDICTION: Raptors 108, Suns 103