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TORONTO - Dwane Casey was visibly put off when faced with a question regarding his teams recent success and their upcoming stretch of winnable games prior to Mondays contest against the league-worst Milwaukee Bucks. "[People] keep asking that question and its not a legit question because we dont have that right, we havent arrived yet," Casey responded. "Weve got to take each game at a time, each possession at a time and look at it that way." "Thats the message Im sending to [the players]. Weve got to play basketball and be focused and not look at records." League standings are not welcome in the locker room, Casey maintained. If they were, they would show the Raptors in sole possession of third place in the Eastern Conference, just barely ahead of the Hawks, following a decisive 116-94 victory over the seven-win Bucks. Since an early-December trade reversed their trajectory, Casey has kept his team focused. They have defeated the leagues best in wins over the Thunder and Pacers, they have fought hard on the road in Indiana and Miami and, perhaps most importantly, theyve taken care of business against teams that many may have expected them to look past. They havent. "No, you cant [take anyone lightly]," DeMar DeRozan said following a 19-point, seven-rebound, seven-assist performance in his teams 22-point win. "It doesnt matter who we play, its an NBA team. Besides us theres 29 other teams in this league and we prepare for each one of them the same." Casey is getting through to his troops, whether they realize it or not. "He said that [too]?" DeRozan asked with a smile after echoing his coach. "Im just being honest. I tell my guys the same thing, we dont look at who were playing. We understand each game matters more than the last one." Its not just lip service, the Raptors have been practicing what they preach. Apart from a short-lived Bucks run that cut the home teams lead to eight at halftime, the Raptors never took their foot off the gas. Their 38-point first frame matched a season-high for scoring in a quarter and the game was quickly put away early in the third after Toronto adjusted to the Bucks pesky zone defence. "We cant rely on that every night," Casey said of the teams second-half run. "That resolve, it doesnt win too many games against good teams so weve got to make sure we take care of business, and we did." "I think we came out with more effort in the second half and it seemed to work for us," said Kyle Lowry, who scored 11 of his team-high 23 points in the third quarter. Again, Lowry was exceptional, shooting 6-of-8 from the field, 4-of-5 from three-point range and connecting on all seven of his free-throw attempts. The Raptors point guard also recorded four steals and drew his league-leading 23rd charge of the season. "Just another night at the office for Kyle," Casey said. [The] charges are huge. If you go in there hes going to come from nowhere to get a charge so he does a great job of that, reading that, sacrificing his body for it. Hes done everything, defensively, offensively, hes set the tone." The playmaking ability of DeRozan - who registered four or more assists in a career-best sixth straight game - and John Salmons, adding five dimes along with his 10 points off the bench, took pressure off the Raptors point guard, freeing Lowry up on the weak side. As a team, the Raptors tallied 26 assists, shooting 51 per cent from the field and 12-of-23 from beyond the arch. Although Casey doesnt want to hear about it, Torontos next four opponents have losing records. The Raptors have won 10 of its last 11 games against sub-.500 teams and dont appear to be letting up. "Im going to say this again, we dont have any right, yet, to overlook anyone in this league," Casey repeated after his team improved to 19-17, two games above the .500 mark for the first time since March of 2010. "Its a tough league, were still building, were still getting there so I cant allow our guys to have that in their thought process." Ray Black Brewers Jersey .The long-haired pivot, who joined the Alouettes midway through the CFL season and put up a 9-3 record as a starter, will be listed as the top quarterback in training camp next spring.With a full training camp under his belt, the Alouettes will see if he has what it takes to get them back to the Grey Cup game after a four-year absence. Yasmani Grandal Jersey . Selected by the Titans in the 2007 NFL Draft, Johnson rejoined the club last season after a five-year stint with Indianapolis. https://www.cheapbrewers.com/569y-eric-t...ey-brewers.html. A groundswell for raising the number of playoff qualifiers to seven in each conference figures to get plenty of support from the 32 owners. Most notably, Arizonas Bill Bidwill, who saw his Cardinals go 10-6 and not get in, while Green Bay (8-7-1) qualified by winning the NFC North. Hernan Perez Jersey . The post-season, Pierce said repeatedly, is no time to panic. And the Heat, apparently, are nothing to fear. Jordan Lyles Brewers Jersey . -- Jimmie Johnson has a sixth NASCAR championship in hand and two legends within reach.CHICAGO - The Chicago Blackhawks are trying get into a groove so they can head into the playoffs firing on all cylinders. Even without star forward Patrick Kane, the defending Stanley Cup champions showed signs of moving in the right direction Tuesday night. Andrew Shaw and Duncan Keith each had a goal and an assist, and Chicago held on for a 4-2 win over the Dallas Stars. "We did some good things throughout the game," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "All four lines were contributing and our special teams were good as well. Good win." Kris Versteeg and Marian Hossa also scored for Chicago, which needs just one more point to clinch a playoff berth for the sixth straight season. Patrick Sharp added two assists to help Chicago finish 4-1 against Dallas in the Central Division rivals regular-season series. "It was a big win tonight," said Keith, second in scoring among defencemen with 57 points. "Theyre a hungry team, fighting for their playoff lives." Ryan Garbutt scored twice for the Stars, who fell three points behind Phoenix for the final Western Conference playoff berth. Dallas matched Chicagos speed and effort early, but eventually the Blackhawks took over and built a 3-1 lead. Garbutts second goal cut it to 3-2 late in the third, but Hossa empty-netter sealed the Blackhawks solid effort. Chicagos Corey Crawford made 25 saves, while Dallas Kari Lehtonen blocked 38 shots. "Theyre a fast team, can really skate," Crawford said. "They got the jump early and then our D were able to shut them down really good. "They really shut down everything in the third period." Dallas Tyler Seguin set up Garbutts goal in the second period to extend his point streak to 10 games. He has seven goals and 10 assists during the run. Blackhawks top prospect Teuvo Teravainen didnt record a point in his NHL debut, but logged 11 minutes and 39 seconds of ice time. The 19-year-old forward was Chicagos first-round draft pick in 2012 and led his team in Finland, Jokerit, in scoring this season. Chicago played its third game without Kane, who is on long-term injured reserve and may miss the rest of the regular season. Dallas had several good chances early, including Garbutts breakaway just over 2 minutes in. Crawford stopped his close-in rising shot with a glove save. "We hung around the first 10 minutes and Garbutt had the breakaway,"t; Stars coach Lindy Ruff said.dddddddddddd "But I thought they slowly started taking it away from us. "We slowed the game down and they sped it up all the time." Chicago took charge as the period progressed, then Shaws power-play goal with 18 seconds left in the first opened the scoring. Shaw swept in a rebound of Sharps shot from the blue line with a highlight-reel effort. Shaw was knocked to the ice by Dallas defenceman Trevor Daley in the crease, but backhanded in the loose puck as he fell to his knees and while facing away from the net. Versteeg was credited with a goal at 4:12 of the second that made it 2-0. After Dallas Antoine Roussel failed to clear the puck, Versteeg slid a pass toward Hossa who was cruising in down the slot. Rousell reached with his stick to break up the pass, but deflected the pucks past Lehtonen. Garbutt didnt miss on his second breakaway of the game, and cut it to 2-1 midway through the second. He skated in behind the Blackhawks defence after Seguin banked a pass off the left boards from the Stars zone. Garbutt cut across the crease and slipped a backhander between Crawfords pads. Keith restored Chicagos two-goal lead at 3-1 with 5:45 left in the period on a fluttering screened shot from the left point. Garbutts second goal cut it to 3-2 with 5:40 left in the third. Following Nick Leddys turnover in the right corner of the Chicago zone, Garbutt carried the puck to the net. Crawford stopped his first shot, but Garbutt stuffed in the rebound from right side of the goal. "Its too bad we couldnt get the third (goal) there," Garbutt said. "Its doesnt matter if its pretty or not this time of year. "Well just take what we can get and need to start scoring more as a team." Hossa fired into an empty net with 33.3 seconds left to complete the scoring. Notes: Keith has six goals and 51 assists for his 57 points. ... The Blackhawks won 49 of 71 faceoffs on Tuesday. Captain Jonathan Toews was 23-for-28 and Teravainen was 7-for-7. Blackhawks F Bryan Bickell (upper-body) and D Michal Rozsival (lower-body) each missed their third games with injuries. ... Dallas F Erik Cole sat out his third game with an upper-body injury. ... Long-time Blackhawks beat writer Tim Sassone, who passed away Tuesday, was honoured with a moment of silence before the game. He covered the team for the Arlington Heights, Ill. Daily Herald for the past 26 years. ' ' '