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TORONTO - The Raptors nearly shocked everyone with their second-half comeback in an eventual defeat to the two-time defending champs. Everyone except the champs themselves, that is. "We get the best of each team we play," the Heats Dwyane Wade recognized shortly before his team handed the division-leading Raptors their ninth loss in 15 games to begin the season. "We dont even look at records, it doesnt matter." "Teams come out and theyre ready to play us, and rightfully so. Weve earned it." But the home team did not come out ready to play, not like their coach had hoped and expected them to following a similarly slow start in a defeat three days prior. "Our defence, pressure on the basketball, tags and our rotations were a step slow in the first half," Dwane Casey said after Torontos 90-83 loss to Miami. A well-oiled machine, Miamis offence steamrolled over the Raptors in the first half. Toronto fell behind by 14 at the break and trailed by as much as 20 midway through the third quarter before the alarm clock finally went off. Torontos defence woke up, holding the Heat to one field goal in the final five minutes of the third quarter and cutting the deficit to two late in the fourth. Still, as it was against Brooklyn on Tuesday and has been so often in the past, it wasnt enough to save the Raptors from suffering an inevitable loss to a team that feasts on those who lose their focus. "Right now were a one-half team," Casey said. "Weve got to get two solid halves put together." Easier said than done. "Whats it going to take," Tyler Hansbrough asked, rhetorically. "Thats a good question. Its a mindset. On the road weve had games where weve put it together and played pretty well, weve just got to do it at home." "I dont know the answer to be honest with you," he continued. "Were a hell of a team when we fight back but we cant let it get to that," said DeRozan, who again was exceptional in defeat; scoring 25 points on 10-of-20 shooting. "Weve got to be a team that plays a full, two halves of basketball." Even after showing up late, the Raptors had their opportunities thanks in large part to a renewed defensive focus that stymied Miamis free-flowing offence late in the game. Alas, Toronto turned the ball over 21 times - leading to 26 Heat points - and missed eight of ten fourth-quarter free throws. DeRozan and Gay, both 80 per cent free throw shooters on the season prior to Fridays game, connected on five of their 14 attempts from the stripe. "Thats everything," Gay said of the missed free throws. "To finish a game youve got to hit free throws and finish at the rim. It was tough for us to do either." Coming off a 3-for-12 performance on Tuesday - one that prompted a late-night shooting session - Gay was moderately better, scoring 21 points, however he needed 21 shots to do so. His inefficiency from the painted area persisted, especially late in the game, and his pair of missed free throws with a minute and a half left were crucial in defeat. The Raptors are still searching for an answer to Caseys conundrum. How do they put it all together? The Heat are and will continue to be the NBAs bench mark. Theyre more than an enormously talented team. On top of their talent they have developed an identity and chemistry as a team that is a joy to watch and almost impossible to stop. No matter how talented the team, the Heat know that what theyve been able to achieve does not come easy for anybody. "You cant cheat it," Wade preached. "I think the first year when we were together we tried to cheat it, we tried to say, lets do it right now and we got to the championship but when we got there we realized that the continuity that we really needed, when we really needed it, wasnt there." "We didnt have enough time to build it. So it takes time to build." Toronto has dropped 12 straight games to the Heat since LeBron James and Chris Bosh joined forces with Wade and 13 straight contests to Miami overall. Up next The Raptors will conclude a season-long four game homestand on Sunday afternoon playing host to the Denver Nuggets, a game you can catch on TSN 1050 Radio beginning at 1:00pm et. Giovanni Fiore Jersey . PETERSBURG, Florida – Heading into Thursday nights action, Dioner Navarro had caught 14 innings combined from starters Drew Hutchison and Mark Buehrle. Ryan Getzlaf Ducks Jersey .com) - Marc Gasol and the Grizzlies withstood 18 Dallas 3-pointers, as Memphis took control in the third quarter and fended off a Mavericks rally en route to a 114-105 win in a Southwest Division showdown. http://www.authenticduckspro.com/Ondrej-kase-ducks-jersey/ . He made that dream a reality Wednesday night. Olt, who grew up in Branford, Connecticut, attended UConn and made a nearly 2 1-2 hour trek to Boston a handful of times to watch the Red Sox, belted a two-run homer, one of four hit by Cubs in a 16-9 rout that completed a three-game interleague series sweep. Cam Fowler Jersey . PETERSBURG, Fla. Paul Kariya Ducks Jersey . This time, it was Eric Chavezs turn. Stuck in a rut since coming off the disabled list, Chavez hit the first pitch he saw in the ninth inning for a run-scoring single, sending the Diamondbacks to another walk-off victory, 4-3 over the San Francisco Giants on Saturday night.Wales will look to build on the good start they have made to their World Cup qualifying campaign when they take on Austria at the Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna on Thursday night. Austria, under the guidance of new coach Marcel Koller, began their road to Russia 2018 with a 2-1 win in Georgia in their opening Group D fixture.Wales also impressed in their first qualifier by maintaining their Euro 2016 momentum with a comprehensive 4-0 victory over Moldova. Real Madrid forward Gareth Bale scored two and made one as Chris Colemans side took early ownership of the group summit, and Leicester City midfielder Andy King feels the manner of the win underlined the squads growing maturity.It was a potential banana skin game for us, King said.I thought the lads handled it really well, having had the highs in the summer and then almost be back to square one in terms of qualifying and going again for a major tournament. Gareth Bale scored twice in Wales 4-0 win over Moldova in their opening Group D fixture Weve played in a lot of big games now. The tournament has obviously given us confidence and shown we can stand up against the best teams.But we also need to stay focused against the smaller teams, and thats what we did in the last game.King is poised to win his 37th cap in the Austrian capital with Arsenal playmaker Aaron Ramsey again sidelined by injury. Wales manager Chris Coleman admits its strange sensation entering the World Cup qualifier away to Austria with many calling their opponents underdogs The 27-year-old believes he has benefited from being part of Leicesters Champions League campaign this season.The more games you can play against European players and their style of play the better, King said.Playing in the Champions League will help me on the international stage and vice-versa.Its a massive blow to be without Aaron. His loss would weaken any team and we are no different from that. Andy King will replace the injured Aaron Ramsey in midfield against Austria But weve got a squad ethic here and were going to need that over the 10 games of the campaign.Injury newsColeman is still without Ramsey, a key midfielder, for the trip to Vienna, with the player expected to have recovered from the hamstring tear he sustained against Liverpool on the opening day of the season in the next 10 days.Austria, meanwhile, are without the injured Martin Harnik, the Hannover 96 striker who has scored 14 international goals. Sturm Grazs Deni Alar has taken his place in the squad. Highlights from Group D as Wales faced Moldova in the European Qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup StatsWales last played Austria in February 2013, winning 2-1 with goals from Bale and Sam Vokes.dddddddddddd This was Colemans second win as Wales manager.Austria have never lost at home to Wales in four previous games (W3 D1).The only time Wales have avoided defeat in Austria was in April 1992, as Coleman equalised for the Dragons in a 1-1 draw.Austria have won each of their last six qualification matches. Wales head coach Chris Coleman is looking to guide his team to their second win in qualifying for the 2018 World Cup Wales have won five of their last seven internationals (L2).Austria havent lost a home qualification game since September 2012 to Germany (W8 D1).Since September 2014, Bale has been directly involved in over half of Wales goals (15 of 28, 12 goals and three assists).Indeed, seven of Wales last 10 qualifying goals have been scored by Bale. Aaron Ramsey (left) has not recovered from a hamstring injury in time to face Austria Charlies predictionThis is a really tough game for Wales. They need to go again as a team. Every time I switch on the box it seems to be Gareth Bale, Gareth Bale, Gareth Bale but I remember a lot of the Welsh players doing really well at the Euros.Austria are a decent team but can be quite frustrating in how defensive they are. I think they could be dragged down by focusing on Bale and stopping him, which would be a negative thing for a home side that should be going out to win the game.Ashley Williams is in great form and Wales are becoming tougher and tougher to break down, so I cant see many goals in this game, especially if Austria are wary of getting caught on the break by Bale.Charlie predicts: 0-0 (13/2 with Sky Bet) Wales star Gareth Bale had a photo taken with a young fan before training at the Vale Resort near Cardiff before the trip to Austria BettingWales are 13/5 outsiders with Sky Bet with Austria 5/4 for the victory, while the draw is considered a 21/10 chance.However, it is Bale who heads the first goalscorer betting at 4/1, with Marc Janko considered the hosts main threat at 9/2 to net first.Thursday nights clash is deemed a vital one in the Group D outright betting, with Colemans men 7/4 favourites to secure top spot followed by their hosts at 2/1.You can watch Englands tour of Bangladesh, plus Premier League football and the Japan Grand Prix on Sky Sports. 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