Toronto's Hedo Turkoglu, in the midst of a tough stretch, faces his first NBA team on Wednesday. (Lori Shepler/Associated Press)The Toronto Raptors head into the historically unfriendly confines of Arco Arena in Sacramento on Wednesday losers of six of their last seven after a tough setback the previous night.
Toronto couldn't hold on to a 58-50 lead at halftime against the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday, with Kobe Bryant netting the winning basket with just 1.7 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
Toronto managed just four field goals in the final eight minutes in the 109-107 result, starting their road trip with two straight losses.
As a result, the Raptors begin Wednesday just 1½ games clear of the playoff dividing line in the Eastern Conference, although they are in sixth place.
The positive part for the Raptors is that after seven games away due to an ankle injury and then a stomach bug, Chris Bosh came close to his season averages against the Lakers.
Bosh compiled 22 points, seven rebounds and four assists in his second game back. He managed just 12 points the previous outing against Philadelphia.
Andrea Bargnani poured in 21 against Los Angeles to go along with a team-high eight rebounds.
Jarrett Jack had the vast majority of his 18 points in the third quarter, but was curiously glued to the bench for a large chunk of the fourth despite not being in foul trouble.
After a strong finish to February, Hedo Turkoglu has mostly fizzled so far in March. Turkoglu's ledger on Tuesday included just a pair of three-pointers made among his seven shot attempts.
Turkoglu perhaps can gain motivation on Wednesday, playing against the team where he spent his first three-plus seasons as an NBA pro.
Toronto got a rare win in their last visit to Arco, a 107-101 score on Dec. 26, 2008. The Raptors as a franchise hadn't won in the building since 1997, a span of 10 games.
But 15 months is a long time by NBA standards. The leading scorer for the Raptors that night was Jermaine O'Neal, while John Salmons and Brad Miller were top point-getters for the Kings. All three have since moved on to other teams.
The current edition of the Kings is also struggling, losing three in a row and seven of the last 10.
Sacramento had a strong first quarter in Portland on Tuesday, but found themselves playing catch-up after a second period in which they were outscored 27-13.
The club tied the game with eight minutes left in the 88-81 loss but couldn't find the needed offence after that, most emphatically illustrated by Beno Udrih's airball on a three-point attempt.
Rookie guard Tyreke Evans had 18 points, six rebounds and six assists, with forward Carl Landry contributing 17 points. Centre Spencer Hawes led the team with nine rebounds.
The Kings are a young team — no player on the roster has more than six years of NBA experience — a fact that's been demonstrated often this season.
The 19-year-old Evans publicly took fifth-year pro Andreas Nicioni to task after Sunday's loss to Oklahoma City for selfish shot-taking and then just as publicly apologized two days later to the Argentine.
The Kings also haven't been able to close the show on some occasions, demonstrated the last time the two clubs met on Feb. 7.
Bosh scored 12 of his 36 points in the fourth and Antoine Wright stymied Evans late as Toronto rallied from a flat middle section of the game at Air Canada Centre for a 115-104 win.
Toronto concludes its road trip with games on consecutive nights against Golden State and Portland, beginning Saturday.
With files from The Associated Press
