Raptors-Grizzlies Preview

MEMPHIS -- The Toronto Raptors will seek to improve upon their unbeaten road record against Western Conference teams when they visit the resurgent Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday night.

The Raptors, who swept a four-game Western swing earlier this month, will have to deal with a division-leading club without looking ahead to a nationally televised showdown with Golden State on Thursday.

Toronto has won five in a row since suffering a three-game losing streak that accounted for three-quarters of its losses this season. A 16-point home loss to New Orleans began the skid, the Raptors' first against a Western club in seven outings this season.

In the Grizzlies, Toronto will be seeing a team that also has a winning record against Western teams this season (8-5) while compiling a 7-2 home record.

Memphis has lost two in a row, after a five-game winning streak that included a win over another of the East's top teams, the Milwaukee Bucks.

As opposed to the Raptors, whose big game is ahead of them, the Grizzlies are coming off an emotional home loss to the New York Knicks in fired coach David Fizdale's return to Memphis.

Coincidentally, after the hard fought game, J.B. Bickerstaff, the man who has replaced Fizdale with the Grizzlies, took responsibility for the loss, claiming he overextended star Mike Conley.

"I mean, yeah, we wore him out and that's on me," Bickerstaff insisted to reporters afterward. "When you dig yourself a hole, you make those decisions."

Conley played 39 minutes, the second-most he's endured since blowing out his Achilles early last season. He missed a season-high 16 shots.

It won't get any easier in Tuesday's matchup with Kyle Lowry, a four-time All-Star.

Lowry has scored in double figures 15 straight games against the Grizzlies. His team has won eight of the last 10 head-to-heads, including two of the last three at Memphis.

Conley, meanwhile, has been held to a total of 21 points in his last two games against Toronto, and scored 12 or fewer in five of the last nine meetings.

He hasn't faced the Raptors since January of 2017.

Bickerstaff's rival coach Tuesday will be one who's also in his first full season with his team. Toronto's Nick Nurse realizes the fun has just begun.

"I did expect some rust, and there is still a little bit there," admitted Nurse, who will be coaching an NBA game in Memphis for the first time. "I am looking forward to getting to ... making some better decisions."

A Raptors-Grizzlies matchup means a reunion for former San Antonio Spurs teammates Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green of Toronto and Kyle Anderson of Memphis.

It'll be the first head-to-head since Anderson left the Spurs as a free agent in the off-season to accept a four-year, $37 million offer from the Grizzlies.

It probably never would have occurred had Leonard not had his health issues last season in San Antonio. He played only nine games, opening the door for his backup, Anderson, to make 67 starts after making a total of just 33 in his previous three seasons.

Anderson averaged career-highs in points (7.9), rebounds (5.4), assists (2.7), steals (1.6) and blocks (0.8) last season.

He currently is ahead of that pace this season in rebounds (6.5) and assists (2.9).