SAN ANTONIO - As members of the media waited outside the visitors locker room at AT&T Center, Dwane Casey addressed his players behind closed doors, a standard post-game procedure, win or lose. After Mondays hard-fought loss, the wait seemed longer than usual. Getting set to go their separate ways for a short Christmas break, the Raptors coach credited his team for their effort on a seemingly impossible three-game road trip, urging them to build on that success when they get back to work at the end of the week. "It was a good trip," Casey said after their 112-99 loss to the Spurs capped off a 2-1 stretch in four days, highlighted by impressive wins in Dallas and Oklahoma City. "I told the guys it was a good start. Were just getting started to where we want to go." Playing in the second night of a back-to-back and coming off their most physically and mentally taxing victory of the campaign - a 104-98 win over the league-best Thunder Sunday - the Raptors simply ran out of gas in San Antonio, facing an unforgiving terror of a team. "We missed some good looks, some of it was fatigue, some of it was legs, some of it was their good defence getting into us," Casey said. "We knew that coming in, that it was going to be a battle. "And thats our next step, to be mentally tough, to fight through fatigue, to fight through back-to-backs and try to do the same things we did [Sunday] night." The final score is not indicative of how closely matched this game turned out to be. In fact, the 13-point margin of victory was San Antonios largest lead of the contest. Although the home team maintained control for most of the night, the Raptors kept pace and refused to roll over or look ahead to their upcoming two-day vacation. "We are a team that has to be scrappy," Amir Johnson acknowledged, scoring just seven points and grabbing eight rebounds in a match-up with future Hall of Famer Tim Duncan. "Against teams like [the Spurs] we have to play with the physicality just like we did in Dallas and OKC. We have to be the team that pushes the tempo. We cant relax and thats what we have been doing these past couple of weeks. We fight but unfortunately we came up short tonight." Although Duncan had a quiet nine points and 12 boards, the other two-thirds of San Antonios vintage big three controlled the tempo of the game. Tony Parker led all scorers with 26 to go along with eight assists, while Manu Ginobili added 18 points of the Spurs bench. San Antonios second unit - one of the best in the association - contributed 52 points, giving the Spurs 48-minutes worth of high-level production. The Raptors couldnt keep up. The Spurs out-rebounded Toronto by 10 and grabbed 16 offensive boards. They held a 16-point advantage in the paint, dished out 27 assists and recorded a season-high 24 second chance points. "Its always tough playing in a back-to-back, especially against two of the best teams in the West," said DeMar DeRozan. "We understood that coming in but we were in the game. They hit a couple big time threes that pushed the lead up for them and made it tough for us to keep it within arms length but we fought." DeRozan - who had already face a pair of tough wing defenders in Shawn Marion and Thabo Sefolosha on the trip - struggled against Kawhi Leonard, scoring 13 points on 5-of-16 shooting. "He had a rough night but Kawhi Leonard is one of the top defenders in the league," Casey said of DeRozan. "They were double-teaming him in his post-ups so they werent going to let him go." Terrence Ross was the beneficiary of the added attention paid to DeRozan. The Raptors sophomore made 10 of 16 attempts for 23 points, while Kyle Lowry also scored 23 and recorded a team-best nine assists. Although a 2-1 record on this trip is nothing to scoff at - its two wins more than most expected them to get - Caseys message has been received and his team is striving for more. "I wish we would have got that last win," Johnson insisted. "The two wins is great but it would have been nice to finish with one more. "We cant settle," he continued. "We played some tough teams (on the trip) and that is definitely a confidence boost but we want to keep going and keep the focus we have over this break. We are definitely not happy. We just have to keep working." The Raptors players and coaches will be excused for two days to spend Christmas with their family and friends before reconvening in New York City for practice on Boxing Day. "Its coming at a great time," admitted DeRozan, who is among the league leaders in minutes played and could use the rest. "[It] just gives us a chance to refresh our minds and our bodies and understand what lies ahead after this Christmas break." DeRozan and Johnson are each spending their time off in Toronto with their daughters, both of whom will be celebrating their first Christmas. . An in-person hearing means there is a possibility any suspension could be five games or more. Early in the first period, Kostka was gaining possession of the puck and coming out from behind his own net when he was hit into the end boards. [url=http://www.roshesneakerstilbud.net/]Billige Nike Roshe Run Dame . The veteran Winnipeg skip finally earned the right to represent Canada at the Olympics in Sochi, Russia next year with an 8-4 victory over Sherry Middaugh in the Canadian Curling Trials final Saturday night. http://www.roshesne... . Toews skated up to Thornton with about 4 1/2 minutes left in the first period, jabbed him with his stick and then dropped his gloves. The star captains tangled up for a minute before Thornton dragged Toews to the ice and the referees skated in. [url=http://www.roshesneakerstilbud.net/]Nike Roshe Run Dame Tilbud . Adriano scored two first-half goals to lead Barcelona, which will be returning to the Club World Cup final for the first time since 2009 when the team beat Argentine club Estudiantes. Nike Roshe Run Danmark Dame . - The Halifax Mooseheads are four wins away from completing their dominating Quebec Major Junior Hockey League season.COMMERCE CITY, Colo. -- Deshorn Brown scored twice, the first coming 13 seconds into the game, and the Colorado Rapids beat the undermanned Seattle Sounders 5-1 Saturday night. Browns initial goal set the record for the quickest in franchise history. Dwayne De Rosario holds the MLS mark with his score 11 seconds in for San Jose against Dallas on Sept. 27, 2003. "Of course we wanted to start quickly," Brown said. "Thats why we wanted to run that play, one we had worked hard often in practice." On the opening score, Gabriel Torres gained control of the ball along the west sideline and found Brown alone. Brown made several strides before releasing a low driving shot that got past goalkeeper Michael Gspurnings desperation dive. "I ran hard to a spot," Brown said. "The ball came my way and I just took it." Dillon Powers, Gabriel Torres and Drew Moor added goals for Colorado (13-9-9). The Rapids, 4-2-0 over their last six games, moved into third place ahead of idle Los Angeles in the Western Conference. "We had a start teams can only dream of," Colorado coach Oscar Pareja said. "You can work towards a great start, expect them, but you can only dream the way we started." Eddie Johnnson scored for Seattle (15-9-6).dddddddddddd. The Sounders were 1-0-1 in the first two meetings and dropped to 9-2-2 all-time against Colorado. "Weve got to be ready to play from the beginning," Seattle coach Sigi Schmid said. "You cant give up a goal 13 seconds into a game. "We cant just walk on the field and assume you are going to win the game," Schmid added. The Sounders were without leading scorer Obaemi Martins (hip), midfielder Clint Dempsey (hamstring) and defenders Djimi Traore (hamstring) and Leo Gonzalez (hip/groin). The Rapids kept up the pressure. Vincente Sanchez quickly put a corner kick in play and Powers sent a header into the back of the net in the 10th minute. Brown scored again in the 31st after Sanchez and Hendry Thomas moved the ball ahead to Brown. Brown beat off pressure from Seattle defender DeAndre Yedlin and beat Gspurning just inside the left post. Moor made it 4-0 off Sanchezs corner kick in the 41st. Johnson had Seattles lone scoring chance when his shot grazed the crossbar in the ninth minute. The Sounders picked up the pressure after intermission. 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