Game day: Raptors at Pelicans

SMOOTHIE KING CENTRE

TIPOFF: 8 p.m. TV: Sportsnet RADIO: Sportsnet 590 The FAN

PROBABLE STARTERS

New Orleans: Frank Jackson, Elfrid Payton, Kenrich Williams, Anthony Davis, Julius Randle. Toronto: Kyle Lowry, Danny Green, Kawhi Leonard, Pascal Siakam, Serge Ibaka.

KEY MATCHUP

Lowry/Jackson Kyle Lowry logged 11 assists but just four points when the Pelicans defeated the Raptors 126-110 in November. He’ll look to rebound Friday, but he won’t face Pelicans point guard Jrue Holiday, who suffered an abdominal injury in Wednesday’s loss to Utah and will miss the Raptors rematch. Frank Jackson, a rookie from Duke who is averaging 6.5 points per game, will replace Holiday.

NEED TO KNOW

As our all-star hoops writer Doug Smith detailed earlier this week, the Raptors’ second unit has been misfiring lately. They’ll need to coalesce quickly if the Toronto’s aiming for another playoff run … The Pelicans, meanwhile, are getting less and less out of their best player. Anthony Davis is averaging 26.8 points per game this season, his lowest output since 2015-16, largely because his playing time is also near historic lows since he attempted to force a trade to the Lakers. Davis put up 25 points and pulled down 20 rebounds in 40 minutes when the Pelicans beat the Raptors in November.

UP NEXT

Sunday at Miami, 3:30 p.m. Morgan Campbell