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Sports

Hornets go for two straight wins, host Raptors

By Sports Network
Published | Updated

The New Orleans Hornets will look for their second two-game winning streak of the season on Friday night when they host the Toronto Raptors.

The Hornets snapped an 11-game losing streak on Wednesday with a 97-94 road victory over the Orlando Magic. New Orleans hasn't won in the Big Easy since Dec. 3 over the Milwaukee Bucks.

In their victory over the Magic, the Hornets were led by Robin Lopez, who had 29 points on 9-for-10 shooting and 11-for-12 free-throw shooting. Greivis Vasquez added 27 and first-overall pick in last summer's draft, Anthony Davis, had a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

New Orleans only committed nine turnovers, shot 50 percent from the field, but a putrid 16.7 percent from long distance. The Hornets did a nice job on the defensive end, holding the Magic to 45.6 percent field-goal shooting.

"My mindset is always to win every game we play," said Hornets head coach Monty Williams. "I don't care who it is in our lineup, young or whoever the guy is we're going to try to win games, so my mindset is the same. I'll enjoy this for about 15 more minutes and then I'll start thinking about the next game."

The next game is against the Raptors, who had their five-game winning streak halted Wednesday night in San Antonio against the Spurs. Toronto fell 100-80 and lost another critical piece to injury.

With Andrea Bargnani and Kyle Lowry already shelved with injury, Jonas Valanciunas fractured the metacarpal on his right ring finger and will be out four-to-six weeks.

Against the Spurs, no starter scored in double-figures and the unit combined for 27 points. Four reserves reached double-digits, led by 12 apiece from Amir Johnson and Alan Anderson.

Five Spurs had double-figure scoring nights, led by the venerable Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker.

"I've been on that other side; I know what the composure is - experience," Toronto coach Dwane Casey said. "This team has been together forever. You got Hall of Famer in Ginobili and Duncan and Parker and it's a huge difference. We're trying to learn to keep that composure through those stretches and do the right things; make the right plays offensively and defensively."

Jose Calderon will move into sole possession of second place on the Raptors' all-time games played list at 510. He is 32 away from franchise record-holder Morris Peterson.

Boy does the traveling lighten up for the Raptors after Friday's night tilt in bayou country. The Raptors won't leave the Eastern time zone again until Mar. 2 in Milwaukee.

The Raptors bested the Hornets in New Orleans in last season's only matchup and have taken four of the last five. They are 3-2 in their last five in New Orleans.