TV: Sportsnet One
Radio: Sportsnet 590 The FAN
Probable starters: New Orleans — Anthony Davis, Jrue Holliday, Wesley Johnson, E’Twaun Moore, Julius Randle. Toronto — Danny Green, Serge Ibaka, Kawhi Leonard, Kyle Lowry, Pascal Siakam
Key players: Anthony Davis/Serge Ibaka
Davis leads New Orleans with 24.6 points and 3.1 blocks per game. Ibaka is shooting 58.4 per cent from the field, behind only Pascal Siakam for the Raptors. Davis is averaging league-high 37.3 minutes per game, nearly 11 minutes more than Ibaka, who is sharing the five spot with Jonas Valanciunas. Coach Nick Nurse plans to use some coverages on Davis when Ibaka is not on the court, and expects a team effort to guard the talented centre.
Need to know: Pelicans point guard Elfred Payton and forward Nikola Mirotic both missed Saturday night’s game win over the Phoenix Suns with ankle sprains … The Raptors have one of the worst defensive rebounding rates in the league at 75.1, which has led to an average of 14.3 second-chance points. New Orleans’ 79.5 defensive rebound rate is good for fifth in the NBA, and leads to a third-best 11.1 second-chance points … Another battle to watch out for will be the one between Kyle Lowry and Jrue Holiday, who sat at No. 1 and No. 2 on the league’s list of assist leaders with 11 and 8.8 per game, respectively, heading into play Sunday.
Up next: Dwane Casey makes his returns to Toronto with the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday, 7:30 p.m.
