CLEVELAND - As the old saying goes, if you play with fire, youre going to get burned. Carlos Vela Jersey . Dwane Casey, who has used the phrase as a cautionary tale after lethargic starts of the recent past, came just short of saying I told you so Tuesday evening. His team had been getting away with it, far more often than any team should. Yes, theyre a resilient bunch and that was the case again in Cleveland as they clawed back from a 21-point deficit - even taking a brief fourth-quarter lead - but its been masking the underlying issue. Theyre an open-faced sandwich, missing the top bun. "You cant play in this league that way and expect to come back each and every night," Casey said after Torontos 102-100 loss to the Cavaliers. "Its bit us more than weve won, it feels like." "Until we fix that, among us, among ourselves, then its going to be an uphill battle every night." For the second time in three days, the Raptors trailed by nine after the first quarter, allowing another team with a losing record, also missing their best player, to shoot above 52 per cent to open the game. The start was eerily similar to Sundays, at home to Atlanta, lacking effort, focus and purpose on both ends of the floor. Even without injured point guard Kyrie Irving, Cleveland killed the visiting Raptors with speed and precision, exposing a reoccurring hole in their interior defence by darting into the paint at will. The comeback was inevitable. Its what they do. Down by 21 early in the third, Toronto staged a 21-9 run to close out the quarter. Kyle Lowry - running back and forth from the locker room all night, battling an upset stomach - scored half of his team-high 22 points in the frame. Greivis Vasquez would give the Raptors their first lead since the opening minutes, draining a three-pointer midway through the fourth before reality set in. "I think everybodys energy was low from having to come back," Lowry said. From that moment on they hit just one of their final 10 shots and on the last possession, down only two, they failed to even get one off. It was a play they had just run with success. Amir Johnson was looking for Lowry to turn the corner, but he was cut off. Instead, Vasquez took the handoff and, trying to spin right, towards the bucket, he lost his footing. "It was me going to my weak hand and I lost my balance, stepped kind of weird," said Vasquez, who scored 16 points of Torontos bench. "I turned the ball over. Ill take responsibility. Im not going to run away. Im a man." A noble gesture but, as Casey pointed out, its not the reason for the loss. "Thats not the game-decider," the Raptors coach said. "The game was decided the way we approached the first quarter." "Its easy to get up for OKC, its easy to get up for Miami, its easy to get up for Indiana but the teams that are not in the playoff picture, they are playing for something, too," he continued. "Theyre playing for pride, which is probably a little bit more dangerous than guys trying to save minutes and save themselves for the playoffs." Theres a lesson to be learned from this loss and it shouldnt take long to figure out whether or not its been absorbed. The Raptors - now the Easts fourth seed, leapfrogged by the Bulls with Tuesdays defeat - will travel to Boston in the second night of a back-to-back and first game of a home-and-home set with the Celtics, another scrappy team looking to play spoiler. "Weve got to get the mindset of being the hunter instead of the hunted because," Casey added. "Thats how we got where we are, being a desperate team, a hungry team and not believing the press clippings or where we are in the standings." Birthday blues Although Lowry would have preferred to celebrate his 28th birthday with a win, the Raptors point guard recorded his 18th double-double with 10 assists to go along with his 22 points. Lowry extended his career-high streak of 19 or more points to 10 games and also became the first Raptor to score 20-plus in eight straight since Chris Bosh did so in 2010. Amir passes VC on blocks list With his third-quarter swat on Spencer Hawes, Johnson recorded his 416th block as a member of the Raptors, passing Vince Carter for second on the teams all-time block shots list. Johnson, who had 12 points and nine rebounds on Tuesday, still has a ways to go to catch Bosh, topping the franchise list with 600 blocks. Patterson nearing a return Patrick Patterson, who has missed 10 straight games with an ulnar collateral sprain in his right elbow, was reassessed on Monday and is headlong well, the team revealed before Tuesdays game in Cleveland. Although hes been cleared for contact, theres still no timetable for his return to game action. "Its a lot up to the medical staff and when they feel he can go," Casey said. "Its one of those things where if he gets hit in the wrong way it could be trouble for a lot longer so thats why they want to make sure its well enough." The stat The Raptors fell just short of matching their largest comeback of the season. They last overcame a 21-point deficit in their home win over Dallas on Jan. 22. Toronto hasnt had multiple wins in which theyve trailed by 20 or more points in the same season since 2004-05. The quote "Weve just got to understand what were playing for," Vasquez said. "Weve got a big one tomorrow [in Boston]. Its a must-win because were actually playing for something. If you dont get up for that youve got to get your gas up. Weve just got to be motivated, man. This is crunch time. This is important for us. Tomorrows a must-win, no matter what. No excuses." Oribe Peralta Jersey . Prado stuck his glove down with Colorados Charlie Blackmon sliding into the bag, and quickly jumped back in pain after applying the tag. Prado held his left wrist as trainers came out of the Diamondbacks dugout to check him. Jonathan dos Santos Jersey .com) - A chant of Zeke reverberated around AT&T Stadium before Ezekiel Elliott powered into the end zone for his fourth and final touchdown. http://www.soccermexicojerseysteamstore.com/miguel-layun-mexico-jersey/ . - Chris Davis hit a two-run double, scoring Nelson Cruz in his Orioles debut in Baltimores 9-7 win over to the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday.Canadas rugby sevens team faces more challenges this season than finding a replacement set of size 15 boots for Adam Zaruba, whose luggage did not join him upon touching down in Australia this week.The Canadian men arrived at the Gold Coast Sevens with the weight of expectations after a record sixth-place finish in last seasons IRB World Series. They will likely surprise no one this season.I think thats one of our big challenges this year, acting Canadian coach Ben Herring said Wednesday from Australia. Maybe last year teams didnt treat us as seriously as they should. I think people will be under no illusions that we can perform at a good level.It makes it harder for us in that teams will be making sure they put on their best performances here. But thats great for us because thats where we want to be. We want teams to take us seriously and play with an intensity that they would treat any of the top sides. Weve got to deal with that. Were prepared and we come ready for that. Herring, Rugby Canadas technical coach and performance analyst, is in charge of the team while newly hired coach Liam Middleton of Zimbabwe goes through immigration red tape. Kieran Crowley, coach of the national 15-man team, had been guiding the sevens squad in the interim but he is back in B.C. for the IRB Americas Championship, which starts Saturday in Langford.Geraint John, the Welsh coach who took Canada to new highs last season, is now at the Australia helm.Under John, Canada reached the final in Glasgow and placed third in Las Vegas in 2013-14.For Herring, sixth overall is Canadas benchmark. We want to improve on that for the season.The opening Australian stop on the nine-event circuit is a one-off. The other eight are split in four sets of two a week apart, starting with stops in Dubai on Dec. 5-6 and South Africa Dec. 13-14.That may help a Canadian team that is hurting at the moment. Nanyak Dala, Nathan Hirayama, Phil Mack, Mike Scholz and Sean White were all unavailable to Herring due to injury.Despite the injuries, Canada has depth that was carefully nurtured under Johns tenure. Herring has also brought the uncapped Zaruba — who got new boots thanks to resourceful team manager Brian Hunter — and Jack Smith to Australia.The senior guys are surrounded by some guys who are just super-pumped up to here, said Herring. So the energys actually been really high.New Zealand is the defending World Series and Gold Coast tournament champion heading into play Saturday and Sunday at the Cbus Super Stadium.Canada opens in a group with Argentina, England and the U.S. England placed fourth in the 2013-14 season standings while Argentina was ninth and the U.S. 13th.There is more at stake on the circuit this season with the top four teams qualifying for the 2016 Olympics where the sport will make its Games debut. One team will advance from each of six IRB regional competitions, with another coming from a world playoff. Brazil, as host country, qualiifies automatically. Javier Hernandez Jersey. I dont think anyone here needs any extra incentive when we play the U.S. but there are those extra things there, Herring said. Ideally we want to strive to not take it down to a one-off (qualification) game but if thats what it comes down to, thats further down the track I think.First and foremost for us is to just keep performing on a regular basis on the circuit and part of that is beating U.S.A. consistently.Herring, 34, is a New Zealand native who played for the Highlanders and Hurricanes in New Zealand from 2001 to 2007, and for the Leicester Tigers in England from 2007 to 2009. He was an assistant coach at Leicester before moving to Japan to coach the NEC Green Rockets.While Canada enjoyed a breakthrough season in 2013-14, its campaign started poorly with rocky performances in Australia, Dubai and South Africa.Other teams have the advantage of longer pre-Series sevens camps while Canada splits its players with the 15-man squad. While Herring says he had two good weeks to prepare with his squad, at one stage ahead of the tournament Canada had just four fit players available for training.The Canadian womens sevens team will also be Down Under, playing three weekend games against Australia as part of its preparation for the Women’s Sevens World Series, which opens Dec. 4 in Dubai.The Canadian women, third on the circuit last season will spend most of October training in Australia.---Canada MenJustin Douglas, Abbotsford RFC, Abbotsford, B.C.; Sean Duke, UVIC Vikes, Vancouver; Mike Fuailefau, Castaway Wanderers, Victoria; Lucas Hammond, Toronto Nomads, Toronto; Ciaran Hearn, Castaway Wanderers, Conception Bay South, N.L.; Harry Jones, Capilano RFC, North Vancouver; John Moonlight (capt.), James Bay AA, Pickering, Ont.; Jack Smith, James Bay AA, Lakefield, Ont.; Conor Trainor, UBCOB Ravens, Vancouver; Jake Webster, James Bay AA, Lindsay, Ont.; Jordan Wilson-Ross, James Bay AA, Alliston, Ont.; Adam Zaruba, Capilano RFC, Vancouver.Canada WomenElissa Alarie, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue Rugby Club, Trois-Rivieres, Que.; Emily Belchos, Markham Irish RFC, Barrie, Ont.; Hannah Darling, Peterborough Pagans, Warsaw, Ont.; Arielle Dubissette-Borrice, Toronto Scottish RFC, Toronto; Bianca Farella, Town of Mount Royal RFC, Montreal; Paige Farries, Druid RFC, Red Deer, Alta.; Julia Greenshields, Sarnia Saints, Sarnia, Ont.; Magali Harvey, Club de Rugby Quebec, Quebec City; Sara Kaljuvee, Toronto Scottish RFC, Pickering, Ont.; Jennifer Kish, Edmonton Rockers RFC, Edmonton; Ghislaine Landry, Toronto Scottish RFC, Toronto; Kayla Mack, Wild Oats RFC, Saskatoon; Mandy Marchak, Capilano RFC, Winnipeg; Kayla Moleschi, Williams Lake Rustlers, Williams Lake, B.C.; Karen Paquin, Club de Rugby Quebec, Quebec City; Nadia Popov, Aurora Barbarians, Newmarket, Ont.; Kelly Russell, Toronto Nomads, Bolton, Ont.; Ashley Steacy, Lethbridge Rugby Club, Lethbridge, Alta.Follow @NeilMDavidson on Twitter ' ' '