The Sacramento Kings travel north of the border to play the Toronto Raptors at Air Canada Centre on Tuesday.

The Kings (24-23) have been one of the surprises of the NBA but had a downright ugly loss on Monday. In fact, the Kings took a 31-point loss at the hands of the Brooklyn Nets, as a 30-9 fourth quarter made that game look really messy. That hideous defeat ended a pretty solid stretch for Sacramento, as they won five of their previous seven games. It's a miracle that this team is above .500 more than halfway through the year though, considering many experts had this team pegged as one of the top contenders for a top pick in next years draft. That says a lot about these young players, as they've made this team a threat in the west. Players like Buddy Hield, De'Aaron Fox and Willie Cauley-Stein have allowed this team to take a major step and Sacramento fans are ecstatic to see a competitive for the first time in a decade

The Raptors (35-13) come into this matchup winning seven of their last eight games, as they've established themselves as one of the elite in the Eastern Conference. They are currently tied with the Milwaukee Bucks for the best record in the east and no other team is within three games of those two. One has to wonder what the deal is with Kawhi Leonard though, as he's missed the last two games for "rest". That's a bizarre designation and it's even more discouraging considering the superstar has yet to play in both ends of a back-to-back set this season. Having him healthy in the playoffs is the only thing that matters though and hopefully, this is all precautionary to accomplish those goals.

In the first game between these teams, Toronto prevailed, 114-105, on November 7. That marked the Raptors third-straight victory over the Kings, thanks to a season sweep last year.