Wizards' Wall questionable for game against Raptors

TORONTO -- As if the loss against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday was not enough, the Washington Wizards are facing the possibility of playing the Toronto Raptors on Sunday without John Wall.

Wall suffered a sprained left shoulder in the 130-122 defeat at the hands of the Cavaliers and, although he completed the game and played a total or 38 minutes, he was wearing a sling after the game.

When he was asked if he might play Sunday at the Air Canada Centre against the Raptors, the four-time All-Star guard said: "We're going to have to wait and see. I hope so, though."

Wall scored 13 points and had 15 assists on Friday and is averaging 20.5 points and 10.4 assists through the first eight games this season.

The Raptors, meanwhile, completed their season-long six-game road trip Friday with a 109-100 victory over the Utah Jazz and will play their next three games at home. They were 3-3 on the 13-day trip and the win Friday was a positive way to bounce back from a 129-111 loss to the Denver Nuggets.

"We've been going for two weeks ... but to finish like this is going to do a lot for our confidence," said DeMar DeRozan, who scored a season-best 37 points Friday. "It was a seesaw first road trip for us, but we can go back home and say, `Hey, we made it through and we can be better next time around.' To have that type of feeling after this trip is definitely good."

The Raptors (5-3) won their first two games of the season, both at home, before hitting the road.

DeRozan scored 17 points in the third quarter Friday and then the Raptors' defense stepped up for the stretch run, limiting Utah to five field goals on its final 20 attempts.

"We have been having great spurts where we lock down and play great defense," DeRozan said. "That is what we have to lean on throughout this whole season, moments like that, especially in critical parts of the game like going into the fourth quarter. That gives us the rhythm and the confidence offensively to pick it up as well."

The Raptors played Friday without C.J. Miles, who had flu symptoms, so he might return Sunday to lead the second unit as he has done so well this season.

Even without Miles and his ability to hit 3-pointers, the Raptors' second unit played well against Utah.

"Delon (Wright) got in foul trouble, that hurt them a little bit, but I loved the effort of OG (Anunoby) and all the young guys," Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. "Pascal (Siakam) is playing great, it's really just hard to take him out of the game, he and OG both. They did a good job coming in defensively and we put them on their best two players so really pleased with the young group. Just, again, consistency is what we're fighting for."

The Wizards (4-4) have lost four of their past five games. They did have forward Markieff Morris back on Friday and he had two points with four rebounds and three assists in 14 minutes. He is returning from sports hernia surgery performed Sept. 22 and also had to serve a one-game suspension before he could resume playing.

Wall was injured in the final seconds of the third quarter.

"I tried to split a screen and shoulder to shoulder contact," Wall said. "But I feel like (Cleveland forward Channing Frye) threw a shoulder into mine because I've split screens before and hit somebody's shoulder and their body, and never had that type of injury."

The Wizards have allowed at least 120 points in three of their past four games.

"We were scoring, that wasn't the problem," Wall said after the game on Friday. "They were getting easy layups, three-point plays and wide-open 3s and it was bad communication. It was something that we worked on since that last game (a 122-116 loss to the Phoenix Suns) and we came out here and knew that they were a team that was struggling and they came out and played well."