¤ milky moon ¤

LOS ANGELES - For the Raptors, Saturday mornings flight back to Toronto couldnt come soon enough. Its that time of the year. Players are tired, or hurting, or both. Some are looking ahead to the events theyll be participating in during All-Star Weekend, others are looking forward to their midseason vacation time. Its been nine days since the Raptors set out on a five-game West Coast trip and the fatigue was evident as they backed into a 2-3 record on the excursion. "We cant use that as an excuse," Dwane Casey said after his team suffered their third loss in the last four games, falling 118-105 to the Clippers in LA Friday. "We knew that coming in, that were getting ready for the all-star break, mental fatigue is setting in, everybody is preparing for the break but its not here yet, we have games to go and business to take care of." After taking care of business in two of their first three games on the trip, Caseys team lost themselves in a pair of losses to the Kings - a bottom dweller in the West - and the Clippers, one of the conferences elite. The Raptors fell behind early, giving up 67 points in the first half of each game, committing a total of 70 fouls and putting their opponent on the line 105 times over the course of three days. The commonality, according to Casey, was a lack of mental and physical toughness against the likes of DeMarcus Cousins Wednesday and the duo of Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan two days later. "The guys are down because they know that we physically didnt take care of business," he said. "The physicality of the game is something we have to get ready for, especially if were thinking about the playoffs because its a physical game in the paint, setting screens, rebounding, going to the basket. All those things are there if youre serious about making the playoffs." Overall, a 2-3 record on the trip is hardly disappointing, its probably on par with what was expected of them going in, realistically. However, they should lose some sleep over the way they ended the road swing. No one expected them to win on Wednesday, not against a scorned Clipper team coming off a tough loss at home to the defending champion Heat. After coming out flat again, Casey was forced to get creative midway through the third quarter, opting to deploy the hack-a-Jordan strategy, a maneuver designed to extend the game by putting a poor free throw shooter - this case, DeAndre Jordan - on the line. Jordan, a 44 per cent free throw shooter, made just 10 of his 22 tries from the line, 14 of those attempts were gift wrapped and delivered to him from Casey. The move was not popular amongst the hometown crowd but for a coach on the verge of defeat, why not take a shot? Although it shaved just two points off the Clippers 20-point lead, directly, it slowed the game down and took the home team out of their rhythm. "We had to do something," Casey said. "Physically they were just manhandling us in the paint. I thought that changed the game a little bit." Toronto would cut its deficit to nine going into the fourth quarter. By that point the Raptors had run out of gas, understandably so. Less than a week before All-Star Weekend, the Raptors are a beat up team. Kyle Lowry is battling a knee injury while both DeMar DeRozan and the slumping Amir Johnson are playing on sprained ankles. DeRozan was the one Raptor who looked at home in LA, in actuality he was. The Compton-born guard scored 36 points, the most hes ever had in nine career games at Staples Center, knocking down a career-high 17 free throws. After averaging 10.0 points on 31 per cent shooting in his first five career games back home, DeRozan has scored 28.5 on 52 per cent over his last four contests in LA. Its yet another sign of DeRozans growth on and off the floor in his fifth season. "Its always good to come home and see the family, or whatever, but I dont put as much pressure on myself as I did my first year or even my second year," said the first-time all-star. "I dont try to come out here and prove a point that Im from here or whatever, I just come here and play." Johnson spent most of Friday night chasing down Blake Griffin, who scored 36 points on 13-of-18 shooting in 28 minutes. It was an impossible task for a player that has been slowed by the injury for a week and a half. The nine-year vet is used to playing through pain and plans to continue doing so but he couldnt hide his frustration after the loss. "That nagging pain is just bothering me," said Johnson, who had eight points in 24 minutes against the Clippers. "I want to but there are just some plays I really cant get to the ball or make a play because my ankle just holds me back." "I feel like I can do a lot better. Im trying to baby it but at the same time Im trying to go hard out there. Once the schedule turns and I can rest it a little bit, Ill definitely come through. Lucky for Johnson and the rest of the ailing Raptors, theyll be en route back to Toronto Saturday after spending one more night on the road. There, theyll host the Pelicans and the Hawks before going their separate ways for the weekend, NBA all-star festivities. The schedule eases up the rest of the way. The Raptors - who have played 28 games on the road, most in the East - only have 13 more to go away from the Air Canada Centre. Fridays contest against the Clippers marked their last road game against a winning Western Conference team. "We want to compete every time we walk out but the main thing is were building and were getting better in some areas and some areas were not," said Casey. "The physicality department, thats going to take some more time for guys to figure that out. My thing is competing, you go out and compete and fight physically and then you let the chips fall where they may and there were some situations where I didnt think we competed physically." . Kyle Shanahan was hired as offensive co-ordinator Monday after spending the previous four years in the same role with the Washington Redskins. . Jagr had a goal and two assists, Andy Greene scored 43 seconds into overtime and Marek Zidlicky had two goals as the Devils rallied past the Washington Capitals 5-4 Saturday night. http://www.nbaknicksauthority.com/customized-c-4/. Klein went undrafted in the NFL last year following his senior season with the Wildcats. He was invited to the Houston Texans rookie camp, but was not offered a contract. . Catch the game on TSN starting at 7pm et/4pm pt. You can also listen to all the action live on TSN 1050 at 7pm et. The Knicks are two games behind the Atlanta Hawks for the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference race. .J. -- Having Ondrej Pavelec earn his 100th NHL win and seeing Mark Scheifele and Evander Kane break goal droughts were nice highlights for the Winnipeg Jets.(SportsNetwork.com) - The Winnipeg Jets have thrived under Paul Maurice despite injury limiting Evander Kane to just four games under the new head coach.Kane is expected to return to the lineup on Thursday night when the Jets face the Phoenix Coyotes.Winnipeg has gone 9-3-1 in 13 games since replacing Claude Noel with Maurice, who made his coaching debut with the club in a 5-1 win over the Coyotes on Jan. 13. Ondrej Pavelec made 18 saves and the Jets got goals from five different players to beat the Coyotes for a second straight time following a six-game series losing streak.The Jets have also won both of their meetings at home versus the Coyotes since relocating from Atlanta.Coincidentally, the Coyotes franchise used to call Winnipeg home before moving to Phoenix prior to the 1996-97 season.The current Jets have endured just one losing streak under Noel, a current two-game slide that includes a shootout setback to St. Louis in the final game before the Olympic break.Kane missed the last six games with a hand infection and has been limited to just four games since Jan. 7 due to injury. He has 15 goals and 29 points in 42 games this season.The fourth overall pick of the 2009 draft is likely to skate on a line tonight with Blake Wheeler and Mark Scheifele.I want him to play his game in our framework, Maurice said of what he wants to see out of Kane. Thats what Im asking froom everybody.ddddddddddddKeep the individual things that make you special, just fly in formation, especially when we dont have the puck.The Jets come in with 62 points, two fewer than the Coyotes, who trail the Vancouver Canucks by just one point for the second wild card spot in the Western Conference. Phoenix also is six points behind Los Angeles for third place in the Pacific Division.Consistency has been an issue for the Coyotes, who lost their final game before the Olympic break and are 4-5-1 since last winning back-to-back games on Jan. 16 and 18.Phoenix returns five players to its roster who competed in the Sochi Olympics, including goaltender Mike Smith, who won a gold medal with Team Canada even though he did not get into a game during the tournament.I knew going over there that thered be a good possibility that I wouldnt get into a game, Smith told Phoenixs website. I was just doing everything I could to be a part of the team and kind of keep the dressing room light and get to know a lot of the guys I play against (in the NHL).Like the Coyotes, Smith has had an up-and-down season, going 20-17-9 with a 2.77 goals against average and .913 save percentage.Smith yielded all five goals on 38 shots in the earlier loss to the Jets, falling to 7-6-0 with a 2.53 GAA against the franchise.Pavelec is 2-1-1 in his career versus the Coyotes, posting a 1.73 GAA. ' ' '