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Hornets fight for playoff life with Raps in town

Apr 8, 2015 - 2:23 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - Time is running thin for the Charlotte Hornets in their quest for a postseason spot and they will host the Toronto Raptors Wednesday at Time Warner Cable Arena.

The Hornets are two games off the eighth and final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference with five to play and have alternated results over the past seven games.

In a 105-100 loss to the Miami Heat on Tuesday, Gerald Henderson netted 29 points and Bismack Biyombo supplied 12 points and 12 boards.

Al Jefferson sat out again with right knee pain and has already been ruled out for Wednesday's game against Toronto.

"It just progressively got worse. Now he's trying to rest it and see if he can go maybe this weekend," Hornets coach Steve Clifford said.

Charlotte is 19-20 at home and will visit Atlanta and Detroit next.

The Atlantic Division-champion Raptors will begin their final road trip of the season Wednesday night and are 19-18 as the guest. They will also visit Orlando, Miami and Boston on the junket.

Toronto has dropped two in a row after winning three straight and is coming off Saturday's 117-116 overtime loss to the Celtics. Boston rookie guard Marcus Smart had the game-winning basket at the buzzer.

DeMar DeRozan poured in 38 points on 14-of-25 shooting and Lou Williams supplied 27 points off the bench. Jonas Valanciunas recorded 12 points and 14 rebounds for the Raptors, who made 48 percent of their shots and had 16 turnovers converted into 25 Boston points.

"I like our effort. That was a playoff atmosphere," Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. "That team is playing well right now. It was a playoff-style game. It was physical."

Casey's club is fourth in the East standings - one game behind Chicago and one ahead of Washington.

Toronto is 0-2 against Charlotte this season and the two teams will meet again April 15 at Air Canada Centre. Charlotte has won the last six meetings between the teams and is unbeaten in the previous eight at home in this series.