Raptors looking for more consistency after losses

The Toronto Raptors are well aware that they need to find a way to play a consistent 48 minutes and hold on to leads against the NBA's best teams.

TORONTO – The Toronto Raptors are well aware that they need to find a way to play a consistent 48 minutes and hold on to leads against the NBA’s best teams.

The only question is: how?

“I think we have to be better at communicating when we have the momentum to keep the momentum, not getting so caught up into being up 10 by the fourth quarter, actually just pushing even harder when we get those leads like that,” said all-star Brandon Ingram on Friday after stepping off the court at OVO Athletic Centre, the Raptors’ practice facility. “I think it falls on all of us.

“We have to have communication at that time to have a push, another push, until the game is over.”

The Raptors led by as many as 10 points on Tuesday night in a 116-107 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. The next night, Toronto led the San Antonio Spurs by as many as 15 points and had a 12-point advantage heading into the fourth quarter.

Those losses dropped the Raptors to 4-15 against the league’s top 10 teams with three of those wins against the Cleveland Cavaliers before they acquired 11-time all-star James Harden in a trade with the Los Angeles Clippers on Feb. 4.

Ingram said that consistency was the focus of Toronto’s practice on Friday.

“We went over the things that we could do a little bit better, some of the lapses that we had during the games, in both games, on the defensive side of the ball, screen and roll,” said Ingram. “We just had a few miscommunications that could have helped us out, some of our fourth quarter execution, just trying to pick a pace up in the fourth quarter and not slow down as much.”