t as an excu

LOS ANGELES - For the Raptors, Saturday mornings flight back to Toronto couldnt come soon enough. Bill Bentley Jersey On Sale . 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." Larry Warford Jersey . The Nets continued their winning ways Tuesday by sweeping a back-to-back set for the first time this season, beating the Orlando Magic 101-90 a night after routing the crosstown rival New York Knicks. Tahir Whitehead Authentic . The 11-year NBA veteran scored 18 of his 28 points in the third quarter and the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Phoenix Suns 104-96 Tuesday to match their season best of five victories in a row.PITTSBURGH -- The first slump of Gregory Polancos major league career didnt last very long. Polanco hit a two-run homer and reached base three times, and the Pittsburgh Pirates won for the fifth time in six games, 5-1 over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday night. The 22-year-old phenom entered his fourth week in the majors without a hit in 12 at-bats over his previous three starts, dropping his average 50 points to .288. But a night after singling in his first pinch-hit at-bat, Polanco doubled, walked and hit his third home run. "This game is all about adjustments," Polanco said. "You have to adjust quick. The faster you adjust, the better you do." Charlie Morton continued his effective pitching at home for Pittsburgh, which clinched its fourth consecutive series victory. Morton (5-9) limited Arizona to one run, five hits and three walks in six innings to lower his ERA at PNC Park to 2.13. Pittsburgh (44-40) has won nine of 11 and moved a season-best four games over .500. "We had a bad April. We dug a hole," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "Weve been digging out. Thats all were doing right now, is digging out." Polanco has taken the opposite approach, reaching safely in 19 of 21 major league games. His line-drive shot to right off Chase Anderson in the second inning gave the Pirates a 3-0 lead. "Its fun to watch him," Hurdle said. "Hes got skills and he pays attention. The league has adjusted to him to some degree already and now hes starting to fire back a little bit." Paul Goldschmidt went 3 for 4 with a run for the Diamondbacks, who have lost three straight. Last-place Arizona had three errors. "We made some mistakes tonight, and it came back to haunt us," Goldschmidt said. "Thats uncharacteristic of this team and these guys; we take a lot of pride on our defence. . Tonight we didnt get it done." Andrew McCutchen of the PPirates, who earlier in the day was named NL player of the month for June, did not play the field in the ninth inning. Larry Webster III Authentic. He fouled a ball off his left foot and winced in pain in the eighth, but continued his at-bat and singled. After the game, McCutchen said, "Im good to go . feel good," but would not commit to being able to start Thursdays game. Morton has worked into the sixth inning during all eight of his home starts this season and has allowed four earned runs over 33 2-3 innings in his past five starts at home. "When I got into a tight spot I made some good pitches," Morton said. "But I really didnt get ahead of guys. I think when I did get in a situation where some pitches had to be made, I made some pretty good pitches." Justin Wilson, Tony Watson and Mark Melancon each worked a scoreless inning for Pittsburgh. Run-scoring hits by Starling Marte and McCutchen in the eighth inning eliminated a save opportunity for Melancon. Russell Martin went 2 for 3 with a walk for the Pirates. Anderson (5-4) allowed 11 baserunners and did not get out of the fourth inning. "I wasnt able to establish the inside part of the plate tonight and just didnt do a good job of putting myself in good counts to be successful," Anderson said. "That games on me, for sure." NOTES: Reigning NL MVP McCutchen led the NL -- or tied for the lead -- in extra-base hits (20), home runs (8) and RBIs (25). . . A day after blowing his fourth save in 23 opportunities this season, Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson said Addison Reed would remain his closer. ... Pirates LHP Francisco Liriano, who has been on the DL since June 11 because of an oblique strain, threw a simulated game Wednesday. He indicated it went well but no specifics were offered about a return. ... RHP Vance Worley starts for Pittsburgh on Thursday against RHP Roberto Hernandez (3-7, 4.26). ' ' '