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Raptors return home to face Hornets

Jan 8, 2015 - 2:13 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Toronto Raptors hope a return home will get them back on track, starting Thursday night when the Charlotte Hornets visit Air Canada Centre.

The Raptors are on a three-game losing streak after a 2-4 road trip. They started the sojourn with a loss in Chicago, then topped the Clippers and Denver Nuggets.

Since, Toronto fell in Portland, Golden State and Phoenix. During the slide, the Raptors allowed an average of 113.6 ppg and slipped 2 1/2 games behind the scorching-hot Atlanta Hawks for Eastern Conference supremacy.

The Raptors have every chance to correct things. They haven't played since Sunday's loss in Phoenix and have the next six at home and five of those teams have losing records.

Also aiding a possible reclamation of form for the Raptors is the imminent return of All-Star guard DeMar DeRozan. He acknowledged he won't play Thursday, but is getting close.

"I want to get a couple more practices in these next couple days," DeRozan said after practice Wednesday. "I don't want to just jump right back out there and say, 'hey, I'm back.'"

The Raptors will host the Boston Celtics, Detroit Pistons, Philadelphia 76ers, Hawks and New Orleans Pelicans on this homestand.

The Hornets have been playing very good basketball of late, which is something of a surprise considering both Al Jefferson and Lance Stephenson have been sidelined with injuries.

Charlotte has won three straight, including two on the road. The Hornets returned home Wednesday and earned a 98-94 victory over the Pelicans at Time Warner Arena.

Kemba Walker scored nine of Charlotte's last 10 points to lead the Hornets to a comeback victory over New Orleans. Walker totaled 31 points, giving him his third 30-point game in a row for the Hornets.

With the game tied, coming out of a timeout with 23 seconds remaining, Walker hit a fadeaway jumper over Anthony Davis to put Charlotte up 94-92. Davis' layup tied the game on the other end, but that left too much time for Walker.

With seconds remaining, the Hornets went up again on an acrobatic shot from Walker. He drove to the basket, pulled up for a jumper and hit the shot despite contact from Jrue Holiday. His free throw completed the three-point play to give Charlotte a 97-94 lead with 1.4 seconds left.

The Hornets stole the inbound pass to seal the win.

"I was just trying to make a play," said Walker. "Time was running down, and I was just trying to get as far as I can to the basket."

Gerald Henderson added 16 points, and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist chipped in 13 points and 12 rebounds.

Charlotte owns a four-game series winning streak over the Raptors, but is 1-3 in its last four north of the border.