Sacramento @ Toronto preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 22, 2019 ) Sacramento 105, Toronto 120

The Toronto Raptors are trying to defend their NBA championship but are struggling against the top teams in the Eastern Conference, with their two losses coming on the road at Boston and Milwaukee. The Raptors will try to avoid dropping back-to-back games for the first time this season when they return home to host the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday.

Toronto fell short in a rematch of the Eastern Conference finals in a 115-105 loss at Milwaukee on Saturday as small forward Pascal Siakam struggled while going up against Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo and fouled out. "I need to do something," Siakam told reporters. "Just make sure that I'm smarter and on the floor to help my team win. If I'm not on the floor, it's a problem." The Kings are putting an 0-5 start behind them with wins in the last two games and began a three-game road trip with a 113-92 triumph over the New York Knicks on Sunday. "It's tough to win games in this league," Sacramento coach Luke Walton told reporters. "We feel very good about what our team is doing, the chemistry, the way they're practicing, the habits they're building. Five games, six games into the season, it wasn't showing in the win-loss column. But we also know and value the importance of what we're working on every day and know it's going to pay off in the long run."

TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NBCS California (Sacramento), Sportsnet One (Toronto)

ABOUT THE KINGS (2-5): Point guard De'Aaron Fox averaged 24.5 points in the two wins and helped his team put the game away in the fourth quarter Sunday after Sacramento squandered a big lead. "We just have to, as a young team, learn how to put games away," Fox told the Sacramento Bee. "Obviously, we were up 30 at one point, that should be where we put teams away. And they fought back in the third and the fourth, and I just think it came a bit later than we were expecting. (I) just tried to bring energy, tried to make some type of play to pick my team up. ... For me it was just trying to put the team away." Fox is getting some help from shooting guard Buddy Hield, who is averaging 21 points over the last three games after scoring in single digits in the previous two contests.

ABOUT THE RAPTORS (4-2): Former All-Star center Marc Gasol is seventh on the team in scoring at an average of 6.3 points, and he seems reluctant to impose his will on the offense despite the pleas of his teammates and coaches. "You can't take it upon yourself," Gasol said, according to the Toronto Sun. "You have to continue to execute the offence, be patient with it, move the ball side to side, especially against a long and athletic team like the Bucks are. So, you have to have that patience and trust your offense and the shot it will create. Let the ball go through your hands a couple of times and make somebody else drive and collapse and move it." Siakam leads the team in scoring at an average of 26 points while point guard Kyle Lowry adds 24 points on 47.3 percent shooting.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Gasol recorded a season-high 12 rebounds on Saturday.

2. Sacramento PF Richaun Holmes is averaging 11.4 points on 68.6 percent shooting.

3. Toronto took the two meetings last season by an average of 12 points.

PREDICTION: Raptors 112, Kings 103