It was his lone career meeting with

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." Discount Air Max . Aaron Hill and Cliff Pennington hit home runs in the first inning for the Diamondbacks, who beat the Miami Marlins 3-2 on Friday night. Cheap Air Max China . You can watch all the action on TSN and TSN GO beginning at 8:30pm et/5:30pm pt. Minnesota dropped the first two tests of this best-of-seven set at Chicagos United Center and was outscored by a combined 9-3 margin in those setbacks. However, the Wild righted themselves at home by taking Game 3 by a 4-0 count before knotting the series at two games apiece with Fridays 4-2 triumph at Xcel Energy Center. http://www.cheapairmaxshoesfreeshipping.com/. Dirk Nowitzki scored 25 points, Shawn Marion had 22 and the Mavericks beat undermanned Philadelphia 124-112 Friday night, handing the 76ers their 10th straight loss. Cheap Air Max Free Shipping . Moors, from Cambridge Ont., landed a double-twisting, double somersault in the layout position, en route to a score of 14.600 points in the womens floor exercise, more than a full point ahead of runner-up Pia Tolle of Germany. Cheap Air Max Authentic . Carcillo was a little of both for New York in Game 3. Derek Stepan, Martin St. Louis, Dan Girardi and Carcillo scored goals, leading the Rangers to a 4-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night.Lefty Travis Wood aims for a second win against St. Louis in 10 days on Monday night, when the Chicago Cubs visit Busch Stadium to begin a four-game series with the Cardinals. Wood picked up his second victory of the season -- and fourth of his career against the Cardinals -- on May 2, allowing two earned runs on six hits in seven innings of a 6-5 triumph. He walked none and struck out six batters in the win. In one subsequent start, however, Wood was battered for eight runs on eight hits in just four innings of an 8-3 interleague loss to the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday. For the Cardinals, fellow left-hander Tyler Lyons makes his fourth starting bid in search of win No. 1 for 2014. The 26-year-old Texan pitched a scoreless inning of relief against the Cubs in the aforementioned May 2 game, but did not factor in the decision. It was his lone career meeting with Chicago. Lyons pitched six strong innings and allowed four hits and a run in one outing since, getting a no-decision in the Cardinals 2-1 loss at Atlanta on Tuesday after walking one and striking out seven. On Sunday in Atlanta, Evan Gattis and Jason Heyward both homered to back a soolid start from Aaron Harang, as the Braves completed a three-game sweep of the Cubs with a 5-2 triumph at Turner Field.dddddddddddd Chicago starter Edwin Jackson (2-3) allowed three runs on six hits and two walks over six frames to absorb the loss. Nate Schierholtz smacked a two-run double for the Cubs, who have lost seven of their last eight. In Pittsburgh, Allen Craig and Yadier Molina posted a pair of hits to go with an RBI and run scored and the Cardinals hung on to beat the Pirates, 6-5, in the finale of a three-game set. Trailing by two runs going into the ninth, Pittsburgh got a run back when Neil Walker hit a double and Andrew McCutchen singled to plate him and make it 6-5. The Pirates later loaded the bases with none away, but Trevor Rosenthal got Ike Davis to pop out into foul territory and Jordy Mercer to roll into a 1-2-3 double play to end the game and give Rosenthal his 10th save of the season. Shelby Miller (5-2) allowed two runs on four hits and four walks over 5 1/3 innings for the Cardinals, who avoided being swept. The Cardinals and Cubs have split six meetings this season. ' ' '