Brooklyn @ Toronto preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 13, 2018 ) Toronto 116, Brooklyn 102

The Toronto Raptors came up just short in an attempt to prove their first-place standing was no fluke in a loss at Cleveland on Wednesday, but they remain the only team in the Eastern Conference yet to reach 20 losses. The Raptors will try to get back into the win column and draw closer to clinching the No. 1 spot when they host the Brooklyn Nets on Friday.

Toronto is 4 1/2 games up on second-place Boston and 10 1/2 clear of the Cavaliers, but Cleveland represented the Eastern Conference in each of the last three NBA Finals and knocked the Raptors out of the playoffs each of the last two springs, including a four-game sweep in the Eastern Conference semifinals in 2017. Toronto dropped two of three following an 11-game winning streak but gets the next three games at home before a two-game trip through Boston and Cleveland. The Nets aren't quite in the class of the Raptors, Cavaliers and Celtics but had a chance to sweep a three-game homestand before squandering a 23-point, second-half lead in a 111-105 loss to the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday. "Just disappointed," Nets coach Kenny Atkinson told reporters. "We had done a great job in the last two games locking down in the fourth quarter, and tonight, we didn't do it."

TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, YES (Brooklyn), Sportsnet One (Toronto)

ABOUT THE NETS (23-49): Brooklyn was outscored 9-0 over the final two minutes on Wednesday and was not pleased about its effort down the stretch. "It's extremely frustrating just because we had some momentum and you're trying to continue it to Toronto, where it's an especially tough game going on the road against a top team in the East," Nets small forward Joe Harris told reporters. "So, it's one of those games where obviously it would have been great to come away with a win, three in a row, have some momentum going into Toronto. But we know there are some things we can definitely learn from this game, and, like I said, we'll evaluate the film and kind of go from there." Harris was one of three reserves to score in double figures with 11 points in the loss.

ABOUT THE RAPTORS (53-19): Toronto shot 54 percent from the floor at Cleveland but allowed the Cavaliers to go off at 60.3 percent and watched LeBron James rack up 35 points and 17 assists without a turnover. "We had some breakdowns, over help," Raptors coach Dwane Casey told reporters. "You know, again, with a great player like James, you can't give him both. Where he's got the assists and the scoring. He's got to do one or the other and then we kind of fell into the rhythm of giving him both." Point guard Kyle Lowry scored 24 points in the loss but called the team's defense "disgraceful."

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Lowry is 18-of-29 from 3-point range over the last three games.

2. Brooklyn PF Dante Cunningham (concussion) missed the last three games and is day-to-day.

3. Toronto is enjoying an 11-game winning streak in the series.

PREDICTION: Raptors 120, Nets 106