Toronto
Raptors

With practice time at a premium for teams being asked to jam 66 games into about 120 days (take four off for the All-Star break), Casey and other NBA coaches are lamenting the deterioration of play brought on by not having nearly enough time to correct mistakes.

And for a Toronto team not blessed with an abundance of talent to begin with, any steps backward are more costly than they'd be for a lot of teams, making the next couple of weeks vital to turning things around.

Thanks to the vagaries of the schedule, the Raptors aren't back out until after the Feb. 24-26 All-Star break and Casey should have about six or seven practices to drill his team in fundamentals that have slipped recently.

"Timing, execution, defensive nuances -- they've all slipped," said Casey. "Say what you may but the lack of practice time is what really causes that and it's not an excuse, that's a reality, that's where we are, that's what the NBA is about right now."

It will not be fine-tuning that Casey will be doing in the next fortnight. The Raptors are so much a work in progress that they won't be adding new wrinkles on offense or defense. It will be entirely things they should already have mastered.

"We're going to go back to the basics of training camp," said the coach.

The Raptors fell to the Bucks 105-99 on Wednesday and they will try to end their three-game losing streak at home against the Celtics on Friday.

In 17 road games, they've shot 36 percent from 3-point range but only 29 percent in 10 home games.

--Even without leading scorer Andrea Bargnani -- he and his 23 points a night are on the shelf with a strained left calf -- the Raptors have found a way to improve their offense.

They have averaged 93 points per game in their last 10 games, seven more than they averaged in the previous 10.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "I was quarterback; I threw six touchdowns. Three for my team, three for his team." -- DeMar DeRozan on an off-season flag football game between teams captained by he and Los Angeles hometown buddy Brandon Jennings.

--F Linas Kleiza seems to have found his offensive stride.

The veteran, coming off microfracture knee surgery, had 12 points in Toronto's loss to Milwaukee on Wednesday and is averaging 18.5 points per game in his last four games.

--G DeMar DeRozan, who thrived on his ability to get to the rim in his first two seasons, is finding a comfort level behind the 3-point line this season.

He attempted six 3-pointers in Toronto's 105-99 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks, giving him 52 attempts in 27 games. He had 52 while playing all 82 games of the 2010-11 season.

--G Jose Calderon may have had 15 assists in Toronto's loss to Milwaukee on Wednesday -- his second-highest single-game total this season -- but he had just nine points on 4-for-12 shooting from the field.

He hasn't had a game with 10 or more points in his last six outings.

MEDICAL WATCH:

--F Andrea Bargnani (strained calf) is out indefinitely.

ROTATION:

Starters:

--Point guard Jose Calderon

--Shooting guard Jerryd Bayless

--Small forward DeMar DeRozan

--Power forward James Johnson

--Center Amir Johnson

Bench:

--Guard Leandro Barbosa

--Forward Ed Davis

--Forward Linas Kleiza

--Center Jamaal Magloire