Washington @ Toronto preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 3, 2017 ) Toronto 114, Washington 106

The Washington Wizards allowed LeBron James to score 57 points on Friday and still had a chance to win before suffering a fourth loss in the last five games. The Toronto Raptors, who host the Wizards on Sunday, have a pair of guards capable of putting up huge point totals in DeMar DeRozen and Kyle Lowry and are happy to be home after a six-game road trip.

Washington allowed the Cavaliers to shoot 56.1 percent from the floor on Friday after letting the Phoenix Suns shoot close to 50 percent in a 112-116 setback on Wednesday. “We were scoring; that wasn’t the problem,” Wizards point guard John Wall told reporters after Friday's setback. "They were getting easy layups, three-point plays and wide-open threes, and it was bad communication. … To score as many points as we have, those are supposed to be games that you can win." DeRozan is enjoying a strong season for the Raptors and will put some pressure on that suspect Washington defense after breaking out for a season-high 37 points while Lowry collected 15 points and 10 assists. “There’s a lot of times where we need them to be who they are: a dynamic, one-on-one player in DeMar DeRozan and an attacking point guard in Kyle Lowry," coach Dwane Casey told reporters.

TV: 6 p.m. ET, Sportsnet 4 (Toronto), NBCS Washington

ABOUT THE WIZARDS (4-4): Washington's bright spot in the last two games is shooting guard Bradley Beal, who is averaging 38 points while shooting 24-of-44 from the field. The 24-year-old is 21-of-24 from the free-throw line during that span but struggled when it was his turn to guard James on Friday and was not happy about giving up that many points. "We were upset about that," Beal told the Washington Post. "It kind of came down to the first team that plays defense was going to win the game, ultimately. ... We can’t give up 40 in a quarter. That’s two games in a row now that we’ve done that. That's unacceptable for sure."

ABOUT THE RAPTORS (5-3): Lowry's offense is coming along slowly this season, but he broke a five-game streak of shooting worse than 50 percent from the floor by going 6-of-11 on Friday, including 3-of-6 from beyond the arc. The All-Star point guard, who put up a career-high 22.4 points last season, is averaging just 13.1 points on 39.2 percent shooting in the early going. Lowry is shooting 91.7 percent from the free-throw line but did not attempt a free throw in either of the last two games and hoisted a total of four in the last four contests.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Wall suffered a shoulder sprain in Friday's loss, but x-rays came back negative and he is day-to-day.

2. Raptors SF CJ Miles sat out Friday's game due to an illness and is day-to-day.

3. Toronto took two of the three meetings last season, with the lone loss coming at home, 105-96, on March 1.

PREDICTION: Raptors 103, Wizards 101