Toronto at San Antonio Dec 23rd 8:30 pm EST

[howard2]

Espn.com
Dec 23, 2005
Link: Espn (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/preview?gameId=251223024)

Toronto (6-20) at San Antonio (20-6) 8:30 pm EST
SAN ANTONIO (Ticker) -- The Toronto Raptors make their second attempt at a three-game winning streak when they visit the San Antonio Spurs on Friday.

The Raptors enter the game with just their second two-game upswing of the season. The club with league's worst mark has not won three consecutive games since February 22-27 of last season.

Toronto is coming off a 94-81 win at Houston on Wednesday. Mike James led a balanced attack with 19 points while Morris Peterson and Chris Bosh adding 18 and 17 points, respectively.

San Antonio avoided its first three-game slide of the season Wednesday by cruising past New York, 109-96, at Madison Square Garden. Michael Finley scored 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting and Tony Parker collected 18 points and 10 assists.

Tim Duncan collected only 13 points and four rebounds, but he only played 22 minutes as the Spurs led by as many as 32 points.

San Antonio and Toronto split their season series in 2004-05, with each team winning on its home floor. However, the Spurs won the previous four contests.
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Today's Line
FAVORITE OPEN CUR UNDERDOG O/U
SAN ANTONIO -12 12 TORONTO 189

[howard2]

CBS Sports Line
Dec 23, 2005
Link: CBS Sports-Line (http://www.sportsline.com/nba/gamecenter/preview/NBA_20051223_TOR@SA)

Toronto Raptors (6-20) at San Antonio Spurs (20-6).
The league-worst Toronto Raptors are off to a surprising 2-0 start on their challenging four-game road trip. They'll try to continue their run against Tim Duncan and the defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs when they visit the SBC Center.

Toronto lost three straight and five of six to become the first NBA team to reach 20 losses before rebounding with back-to-back wins at Orlando and Houston to begin this trip, which will conclude Tuesday at defending Eastern Conference champion Detroit.

The Raptors held high-scoring swingman Tracy McGrady to only seven points in Wednesday's 94-81 victory over the Rockets. Mike James scored 19 points and Morris Peterson added 18 for Toronto, which improved to 5-5 in December after an embarrassing 1-15 start.

"If you'd have told me before the game that T-Mac would score only seven points, I wouldn't have believed you," Peterson said.

The Spurs aren't likely to take the Raptors lightly.

After suffering consecutive losses for the first time this season, San Antonio blew past the struggling New York Knicks 109-96 at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday.

Michael Finley scored a game-high 19 points for the Spurs, who led by as many as 32 points and shot 56 percent. San Antonio was coming off a heartbreaking 109-107 overtime loss at Milwaukee on Tuesday night.

"We responded well from a real tough loss last night," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "That's what a coach always looks for. It was great to come out angry enough to try to put last night out of their heads. We played well most of the night, but a lot of the fuel for that came from last night."

Still without star forward Manu Ginobili, who missed his sixth consecutive game Wednesday and eighth this season with a sprained foot, the Spurs have used a versatile offense to climb to the top of the Southwest Division.

"We attack the game in many different ways," Spurs power forward Tim Duncan said. "Some nights it's interior, but a lot of it is our pick-and-roll and finding our shooters. If they're going to play the pick-and-roll a certain way or double team in the post, our shooters are going to have wide-open shots, and we have some of the best in the league."

The shooters have responded as evidenced by veteran Bruce Bowen's league-leading 51.3 percent mark from 3-point range. Point guard Tony Parker is shooting 54.2 percent from the field overall.

[Vashner]

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