体坛英语新闻：Raptors continue to slump, fall to Spurs

TORONTO, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Toronto Raptors lost 108-106 to the San Antonio Spurs in Tuesday night's NBA action to extend their losing streak to four games.

This is the first time since March 2015 for the Raptors to lose four consecutive regular season games. Last season was the only time in franchise history that the team did not record a losing streak of four games or more.

With the loss,the Raptors fall to 28-17 on the season and 15-8 in games played at Air Canada Centre.

Toronto were without leading scorer DeMar DeRozan, who averages 27.9 points per game. The recently named All-Star for the Eastern Conference is expected to sit out at least one more game due to an ankle injury sustained in Sunday's loss to Phoenix.

Despite the loss, Toronto head coach Dwane Casey is encouraged by the level of effort his squad demonstrated in the second half.

After allowing San Antonio to shoot 23-for-42 (54.8 percent) in the first half and trailing by as many as 13 points, Casey's squad came together in the second half and held their opponents to 15-for-43 (34.9 percent) shooting.

"In the second half we competed and played together with cohesion, moved the basketball, attacked the basketball, kicked out and made shots," Casey said following the game." "I do like the fighting spirit that we had. If we play with that defensively intensity that we did in the second half, I'll go to war with that each and every night," Casey added.

Toronto's defence, combined with a 21-10 run helped the team claw black in the third quarter and take their first lead of the game. The game remained close for the remainder of the game. With the game tied at 104-104 with three minutes left, the Spurs would outscore Toronto 4-2 to secure the win.

Another positive from this game for Casey was the return of forward Patrick Patterson, who had missed the previous six games and ten of the last 12 due to a knee injury.

"I thought he came in and was steady, moved the basketball, defended, and rebounded. He did a lot of positive things that gave us some glue that we needed," Casey said.

The 27-year-old forward, who was on a minutes restriction, scored 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting and grabbed four rebounds in 21 minutes of action.

The Raptors will have a chance to end their losing streak tomorrow night when they face the Memphis Grizzlies on the road.