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• Raptors Team Report (Yahoo! Sports) February 5, 2012
  The Raptors are finishing one of the most difficult road stretches in their history. They've played 16 games on the road—the most the league—following Sunday's 95-89 loss in Miami and will play No. 17 in Washington on Monday night. Most teams would lament that kind of grind, especially in a sport where home court means so much. Raptors coach Dwane Casey? Not so much. "We don't play with the same sense of urgency and intensity at home that we play with on the road," he said. "We've been better on the road." That's most troubling because after Monday's game, Toronto heads back for seven straight at Air Canada Centre, tying the longest homestand in franchise history. It will take all of Casey's motivational skills to get his players...
• James, Heat hold back Raptors, 95-89 (The Canadian Press) February 5, 2012
  MIAMI - LeBron James took a hard foul and clearly was not happy. So the next time he saw the ball, he made sure no Toronto player could reach him.
• James wishy-washy about dunk contest ... again (Yahoo! Sports) February 4, 2012
  As he tends to do annually at this time of year, LeBron James is dropping subtle hints that he might participate in the dunk contest during All-Star Weekend, even though he has yet to do so during his NBA career. "I don't know.
• Amir Johnson leads Raptors past Wizards (The Canadian Press) February 4, 2012
  TORONTO - Shame, illness and trouble at home were among the baggage the Toronto Raptors carried onto the court with them.
• Barbosa, Johnson lead Raptors past Wizards 106-89 (AP) February 4, 2012
  Any signs of progress Wizards coach Randy Wittman had seen in recent games were entirely absent Friday night. Leandro Barbosa shook off flulike symptoms to score 19 points, Amir Johnson had 18 points and 13 rebounds, and the Toronto Raptors beat Washington 106-89, handing the Wizards their third straight defeat.

• Heat's struggles continue vs. below .500 teams February 5, 2012
  MIAMI - The Miami Heat have high standards. They called a team meeting last week when they had a one-game losing streak. So it wasn't surprising the Heat weren't overly enthralled with Sunday's 95-89 less-than-scintillating 95-89 win over lowly Toronto at AmericanAirlines Arena. One figured the Raptors (8-17) easily would be dispatched and Miami's stars would be on the bench at the end finalizing Super Bowl watch-party plans. Instead, the Heat, after leading 85-70, watched the Raptors score 12 straight points and get within three in the final 2 minutes. Yes, Miami players were passed smelling salts in enough time to wake up and avoid a shocking upset. But a trend is developing about the Heat not exactly looking so hot against teams with losing records. Miami (18-6) is 8-3 this season against foes with losing marks and 10-3 against teams with records of .500 or better. In addition, this season they've needed a last-second shot to win at Charlotte, which is now 3-21, and barely escaped at Detroit, now 6-20. "We have to do better," forward Chris Bosh said of games against sub-.500 outfits. "We do have to improve. And that's something we'll continue just to talk about and work on. (The Raptors) did a good job of different looks (using a zone), and some teams just don't go away. But we have to work on what we want to and that's putting teams away, kind of putting them more in a disadvantage. If we're up 12, try to push it to 16 or 18 and really put more pressure on them." Miami's losses to sub .500-teams all have come in the past 3 weeks, defeats at Golden State and losses both at home and on the road to Milwaukee. It was after the latest defeat to the Bucks, 105-97 last Wednesday, that the Heat had their team meeting. It looked to have worked when they won 99-79 Friday at Philadelphia. But even that didn't stop LeBron James Jr., the 7-year-old son of the Heat star, from ragging on his dad when he was being taken Saturday morning to a pee-wee basketball game. "When I got home Saturday morning and I'm on way to his game, he said, 'You can't beat Milwaukee, huh"' James said. "He said, 'Why you lose to Milwaukee every time you play Milwaukee?' And I absolutely didn't say nothing to him. I just kept walking." James, who scored a game-high 30 points, made sure Sunday his son didn't have any more ammunition to use against him. After the Raptors got within 85-82, James scored four straight points and the Heat soon put the game away. It was about time. "We want to play well against everyone," James said. "Of course, the sub.-500 teams, they get up to play us and they made some shots They made two threes that cut the lead down, 24 on the clock basically." During the 12-0 run, the Raptors frustrated Miami by getting three-pointers by Linas Kleiza and Jerryd Bayless just before the shot-clock buzzer. But the Heat didn't help themselves by going 4:13 without scoring, missing four shots and committing two turnovers. So James ended up needing to play 38 minutes. A few minutes extra rest wouldn't have hurt during this compact season, which includes the Heat next week playing three games in three nights. While James shot 10-of-17 and grabbed nine rebounds Sunday, he did have five turnovers and handed out just two assists. It marked the first time this season James hasn't had at least five assists in a game, and broke an overall 31-game regular-season streak of handing out that many or more. Heat guard Dwyane Wade added an efficient 25 points on 8-of-14 shooting. Afterward, Wade gave about a two-minute interview and headed quickly out the door, which seemed par for the course following a get-it-over-with-and-get-to-the-Super-Bowl-party game. "We'll take this win and move on," Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said of a game that was pretty much a win for the Heat and nothing else. The Heat move on to another home game Tuesday. But perhaps it's not good news that the foe, Cleveland, also has a losing record. Chris Tomasson can be reached at christomasson@hotmail.com or on Twitter @christomasson
• LeBron, Wade lift Heat past Raptors February 5, 2012
  LeBron James scored 30 points, Dwyane Wade had 25 and the Miami Heat survived a shaky fourth quarter to beat the Toronto Raptors 95-89 on Sunday afternoon. Chris Bosh scored 12 points against his former team, which saw a 15-point edge trimmed to three in the final minutes but never surrendered the lead. Mario Chalmers added 11 for Miami. DeMar DeRozan scored 25 for the Raptors, who got 17 apiece from Jerryd Bayless and Linas Kleiza. Miami won for the 10th time in its last 12 games and moved within one game of Chicago for the best record in the Eastern Conference. The Bulls and Heat both have six losses, and Miami has two games in hand.
• Raptors Post Game Report Card: Late Push not Enough to Beat the Heat February 5, 2012
  Well, you can’t complain about the effort in this one. The Toronto Raptors gave the Miami Heat all they could handle, ultimately dropping the game 95-89. The Raps were down by as much as 18 in the 3rd quarter. However, a late surge in the fourth pulled the Raps within 3 points before LeBron James and Dwyane Wade closed it out. Let’s get to the report card: Offence- B+  Positives DeMar DeRozan exploded with 25 points, and exploited the Heat’s defence by constantly attacking. He went to the line 11 times. Jerryd Bayless was fantastic in the fourth quarter, propelling him to 17 total points. Linas Kleiza also added 17. Negatives In the third quarter, the offence went through a huge drought that allowed the Heat to pull away in this one. Defence- B Positives Overall, the Raps did a solid job of guarding the explosive Heat offence. They limited former Raptor Chris Bosh to a mere 12. Negatives When it mattered the most, the Raps couldn’t stop the Heat’s poten...
• Heat hold off Raptors rally for 95-89 win February 5, 2012
  The Toronto Raptors fought back from a 16-point deficit to cut it to three with 3:23 left to go, but the Miami Heat held on for a 95-89 win that moves them within a game of Chicago for the top seed in the Eastern Conference. Coming out of a timeout while nursing a three-point lead, LeBron James made a strong play to the basket and drew a hard foul from Amir Johnson. James made both free throws and then stole the ball on the Raptors’ ensuing possession for a dunk. But after the Heat forced a miss from Toronto, James launched an ill-advised pass to Dwyane Wade that ended up resulting in a turnover. The Heat had a 89-82 lead with 1:38 seconds left; they just needed to kill the clock. Nonetheless, Miami played good enough defense to pull out the win. The Heat started the Super Bowl Sunday matinee playing poor defense, letting the Raptors hang around. Two consecutive Mario Chalmers 3-pointers in the third quarter extended Miami’s lead to 71-57, but Toronto made it somewhat of a ballgam...
• James, Heat survive shaky fourth to beat Raptors February 5, 2012
  MIAMI (AP) -- LeBron James scored 30 points, Dwyane Wade had 25 and the Miami Heat survived a shaky fourth quarter to beat the Toronto Raptors 95-89 on Sunday afternoon. Chris Bosh scored 12 points against his former team, which saw a 15-point edge trimmed to three in the final minutes but never surrendered the lead. Mario Chalmers added 11 for Miami. DeMar DeRozan scored 25 for the Raptors, who got 17 apiece from Jerryd Bayless and Linas Kleiza. Miami won for the 10th time in its last 12 games and moved within one game of Chicago for the best record in the Eastern Conference. The Bulls and Heat both have six losses, and Miami has two games in hand.

• James, Heat Hold Back Raptors, 95-89 February 5, 2012
  LeBron James scored 30 points, Dwyane Wade had 25 and the Miami Heat survived a shaky fourth quarter to beat the Toronto Raptors 95-89 on Sunday afternoon.
• LeBron Rescues Heat From Near Collapse to Raptors February 5, 2012
  LeBron James put his fourth-quarter uncertainties behind him with critical late plays that helped the Miami Heat survive a late scare from Toronto in a nervous 95-89 home win over the Raptors on Sunday.
• Canadian Sport Juggernaut Needs Winning Teams January 27, 2012
  Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment is Canada’s largest sports empire, but there is discontent about its high ticket prices and lackluster teams.
• Nets Beat Raptors and End Slump January 7, 2012
  The Nets made a season-high 15 3-pointers in a 97-85 victory over the Raptors in Toronto, ending a six-game losing streak and winning for the first time since their opener Dec. 26.
• Knicks, Minus Amar’e Stoudemire Again, Fall to Raptors, 90-85 January 3, 2012
  With Amar’e Stoudemire sidelined for a second straight game, the Knicks fell to the Raptors on Monday at Madison Square Garden.