TORONTO - Its been a while since the Raptors could genuinely speak about a meaningful game in February but Dwane Casey is not just blowing smoke when he stresses the importance of Wednesdays showdown with Atlanta, his teams final game before All-Star weekend. "Its huge," Casey said of Torontos matchup with the fifth-place Hawks, who sit 1.5 games behind the Raptors for third place in the Eastern Conference. "Its not like in the past where games dont matter. In the past we were building, getting guys experience. Now the games matter." Toronto will go into the break with at least 27 wins for the first time since the 2009-10 campaign and could pad its cushion over Atlanta in the standings with a victory on Wednesday. TSN 1050s Josh Lewenberg and Duane Watson took a look at the importance of Wednesdays tilt at home to Atlanta and finishing the first half of the season strong in this weeks edition of the Raptors Report podcast. Generally, this is one of those games - the one just before All-Star - that coaches fear most, and for good reason. Its just one of 82 and its easy to look past if youre headed to New Orleans for this weekends festivities or eagerly awaiting time off with family and friends. NBA players are only human after all. Perhaps that would be the case against an inferior opponent, a trap game of sorts, but this years unofficial finale to the first half of the season has a different feel and the mentality going into it reflects a new level of focus. "(We have to) make sure we take care of business before we go on the break," Casey said following a light practice on Tuesday. "(Weve) been talking about that now for the last week or so and we didnt do a good job on the West Coast trip of closing out. Weve got one more game before the break and we dont want to take the break before it starts." His troops seem to have bought in. "Before anything else weve got to care of business (Wednesday) against a team were going back and forth with at our spot in the Eastern Conference," said DeMar DeRozan, Torontos representative in Sundays All-Star Game. "Weve got to take advantage of (Wednesdays) game on our home floor and go into the break feeling good." Despite dropping three of five games on the road last week, the Raptors have an opportunity to go into the five-day layoff with some momentum, coming off a 108-101 win over the Pelicans at home Monday. Meanwhile, the Hawks are backing into the break having lost four straight, most recently falling 100-85 to the Bulls, who leapfrogged them for fourth place with the win. Atlanta has failed to break 90 points in three of its last three games, scoring 86.5 over that stretch after averaging 116.5 in the previous four contests, winning three. "Theyre definitely a team of runs, that can get real streaky on you fast," said DeRozan, who scored 31 points in Torontos 102-95 road loss to the Hawks on Nov. 1, the second game of the season. "So weve got to take all that out the game from the start and not give them (any) hope and take care of business from the get go." Hawks centre Al Horford had 22 points and 16 rebounds in the first meeting but has since been lost for the season after undergoing surgery on a torn pectoral muscle. Paul Millsap - who will join DeRozan as a first-time all-star in the East this weekend - has stepped up in Horfords place, averaging a career-best 17.7 points to go along with 8.4 rebounds, already knocking down more threes this season (46) than he had in his previous seven combined. "Hes another example of a guy who has developed his game (and) brought something back to the table every year," Casey said of the Hawks forward. "Hes made some threes in his career in Utah but now hes a consistent three-point shooter. Hes self-made and thats what you respect about Millsap." Certainly you cannot talk about the Hawks and their three-point shooting without mentioning one of the most impressive, albeit under the radar streaks in professional sports right now. With two treys in Tuesdays loss, Kyle Korver extended his historic run of consecutive games with at least one made three-pointer to 119. He broke Dana Barros old record of 89 straight games back in December and is shooting the three-ball at a 46 per cent clip on the season, third best in the NBA. His accomplishment - and the threat it represents - has not gone unnoticed in the Raptors locker room. "Its crazy to do something like that," DeRozan said. "Especially when they know youre a three-point shooter and you scout a guy like that and your whole objective is to run him off the three-point line, make him shoot twos. Hes still knocking down threes, its definitely tough." "Hes a good athlete, its not like hes just a stand still guy," Casey added of Korver. "So were going to have to have a lot of energy to chase him around, to run with him, to move with him and we cant relax because if you lose site of him for a split second its a three-point shot." Three days before defending his Slam Dunk title at All-Star Saturday Night, Terrence Ross should draw the assignment of chasing down Korver, at least initially. As for Millsap, he should see more of a committee at the four-spot, especially if Amir Johnson cant go for the Raptors. Johnson has been nursing an injury to his right ankle since coming down on it in last months win over Orlando. Casey and the coaching staff opted to rest the Raptors ailing warrior in Mondays win - the first game hes missed due to injury in nearly two years - but havent determined his status for Wednesdays contest. Previously it would have made perfect sense to sit him again, extending his rest into and through the break but now, with higher stakes, the decision becomes more difficult. "Hes still sore but were going to see," Casey said. "Right now we need all hands on deck." T... Linden Jersey . People familiar with the case told The Associated Press on Friday that arbitrator Fredric Horowitz could issue his decision this weekend. . Riethers apparent stamp on Manchester United midfielder Adnan Januzaj during Saturdays Premier League match at Craven Cottage was missed by the match officials. A three-man panel of former referees reviewed the incident and all agreed that it was a sending-off offence. http://www.thecanuckshockeystore.com/Canucks-Jannik-Hansen-Adidas-Jersey/.com) - The Winnipeg Jets placed defenceman Paul Postma on injured reserve Tuesday. [url=http://www.thecanuckshockeystore.com/Canucks-Todd-Bertuzzi-Adidas-Jersey/]T... 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Kevin Anderson upset Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka 7-6 (1), 4-6, 6-1, and sixth-ranked Andy Murray joined Wawrinka on the sidelines, losing to big-serving Milos Raonic, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3. Anderson ended Wawrinkas 13-match winning streak that included his first Grand Slam title in January. Wawrinka didnt face a break point in his first two matches, but he got broken in his first service game against the 6-foot-8 Anderson, who had 11 aces and connected on 64 per cent of his first serves. "I was complaining a lot about my serve, about the way I was playing, and with that, I dont deserve to win matches," Wawrinka said. "I should have been more positive with myself, just trying to find solution because it was still a close match." After losing the first set tiebreaker, Wawrinka left the court for nearly eight minutes to have his back worked on. He returned and broke Anderson twice in taking the second set to even the match. "Its just tightness," he said, insisting he wasnt injured. "I was a little bit nervous and tight and tired." Anderson earned all four breaks in the third in completing his 150th career match win on the ATP Tour. "Game plan is just to get as many first serves back as possible just to give myself the best look in his serve games throughout the match," he said. Anderson advanced to the quarter-finals against four-time tournament champion Roger FFederer, who beat 11th-seeded Tommy Haas 6-4, 6-4.dddddddddddd Against Murray, Raonic earned his first win over a top-10 player since September. He fired 15 aces and held triple match point when he ripped a crosscourt forehand to close out the win after breaking Murray three times in the final set. "The third set was just a bad, bad set of tennis," said Murray, who broke Raonic to lead 2-1 before losing five of the final six games. Murray, ranked sixth in the world, struggled in all three of his matches at Indian Wells. He rallied from a set down to beat Lukas Rosol and Jiri Vesely, but couldnt overcome Raonics power. "He obviously wins a lot of free points with his serve," Murray said. "So over the course of the set, if you give up enough unforced errors on basic shots, then with the amount of free points he gets on his serve, thats going to add up to a negative result." Raonic blew his first match point when he returned Murrays serve long. Murray held to trail 5-3, but Raonic held at love to close out the match. He hit 42 winners to 22 for Murray. Playing his first tournament since injuring his left ankle at the Australian Open in January, Raonic hadnt beaten someone in the top 10 since defeating then-No. 6 Tomas Berdych in the Bangkok final last fall. "I focused a lot more this event on my attitude and approach during the matches rather than what Im necessarily playing and just sort of being very hard on myself on that aspect," Raonic said. Raonic, a 23-year-old Canadian ranked 11th in the world, advanced to the quarter-finals against Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine, who beat Fabio Fognini of Italy, 6-2, 6-4. Ernests Gulbis beat Roberto Bautista Agut 7-6 (7), 4-6, 6-2 to reach the quarterfinals. Hell play John Isner, the lone remaining American man who beat Fernando Verdasco, 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-3. On the womens side, sixth-seeded Simona Halep defeated Australian qualifier Casey Dellacqua 6-2, 6-2 to earn a berth in the semifinals. Halep will play second-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska, who beat No. 7 seed Jelena Jankovic, 7-5, 2-6, 6-4. China NFL Jerseys Stitched Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic China Jerseys Cheap Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping NFL Jerseys Wholesale ' ' '