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Raptors host Wizards with stars on sidelines

Mar 7, 2008 - 3:30 PM Washington (29-31) at Toronto (33-27) 7:00 pm EST

TORONTO (Ticker) -- The Washington Wizards head back to Toronto on Friday to face the Raptors and hope to erase the memories of their last trip to Canada.

In their last meeting with the Raptors, the visiting Wizards lost by 39 points on January 30, their worst defeat in more than six years.

Washington is still in the thick of the Eastern Conference playoff race despite playing shorthanded.

The Wizards have been without forward Caron Butler for 13 games with a hip injury and guard Gilbert Arenas has been out since undergoing knee surgery in November.

Washington, 12-18 on the road, is coming off a 30-point loss at home to Orlando on Wednesday.

"They took it to us," Wizards coach Eddie Jordan said. "They were the aggressors, and we just didn't compete physically. ... I really thought we would compete at a higher level - and we didn't."

The Raptors are 1-3 without the services of All-Star forward Chris Bosh, who left a 122-111 loss to Indiana on February 29 with a swollen right knee.

After dropping three straight contests without Bosh, Toronto cruised to a 108-83 victory at Miami on Wednesday.