CHARLOTTE - Execution breeds champions. Custom Detroit Pistons Jerseys . It breeds playoff teams. It breeds winners. Dwane Casey, a champion in Dallas, knows this as well as anyone. He alluded to it 24 hours earlier. "Its (about) being in the moment (and) making big plays at the right time," Casey said Tuesday night after his team suffered an expected and excusable loss to the defending champion Miami Heat. "We put ourselves in a position to beat the best team in the league. Now the next step for our team is to be able to bust through that." A day later, when the Raptors needed it the most, execution failed them in a second loss, this time to the Bobcats, a team that won 21 games last year. By all accounts this was a winnable game, instead it became their third loss on the season, one that stings more than the others. The Bobcats rebounded the ball off a DeMar DeRozan miss with just under 26 seconds remaining and a 1.9 second difference between the shot clock and the game clock. Faced with a choice - foul and extend the game or play it out - Casey opted not to give the foul. Rookie head coach Steve Clifford called a timeout with five seconds remaining, giving both teams one final chance to talk things over but at that point Casey had already made his decision, the Raptors had made their bed. Wisely, Gerald Henderson waited until the very last moment to release a three-pointer, barely avoiding a shot clock violation and allowing the game clock to expire. "We felt like we could get one stop and then get a timeout," Casey said, standing by his decision to play out the final possession in which he hoped to force a turnover or grab a quick rebound, giving his team one last shot at the tie or a win. "It was tough," said Landry Fields of the play. "We didnt have as much time as we really thought." A quick foul would have extended the game and forced Charlotte - the fourth worst free throw shooting team last year - to knock down a pair from the line. "We could have fouled, we could have done different things," Kyle Lowry acknowledged, "but we didnt and thats that." With a clock differential just under two seconds, Toronto put its fate in the hands of the Bobcats and the home team played it perfectly. A winning play from a losing team and that was the difference in a game that belonged to Charlotte from start to finish. "Thats the way it went down at the end," said Casey. "It should never have gotten to that." The Raptors defence showed up 12 minutes after the ball was thrown up. The home team - having also played the night before, upsetting the Knicks in New York - took it to Toronto right out of the gate. "Our approach at the beginning of the game was very unlike us and if we played the way we did the last three quarters, the game doesnt come down to that (final possession)," stated Casey. "That was a great lesson for us, to come out with a professional, intense approach as if were serious about winning, and we didnt do that. We left it in the hands of the last couple possessions." The Bobcats hit 15 of their 20 first-quarter shots, assisting on 11 of them and going on to outscore Toronto 32-18 in the opening frame. "We had no defensive focus whatsoever," Casey continued. "And then it kind of continued, because now they had their confidence. Instead of coming out and punching them in the mouth early, they got (into) a flow. We couldnt shut it off." "We looked like we were playing in sand," said Rudy Gay, who led the Raptors in scoring with 20 but struggled shooting the ball once again, going 8-for-21 from the field. "(Playing) slow, defensive lapses, letting easy stuff getting to the basket and things like that count at the end of the game and they creep up on you. It kind of haunted us." Gay chalked it up to a lack of maturity on the part of the Raptors. "We have to get smarter," said Gay, who has committed 13 of his team-leading 19 turnovers in the second half of his first five games. "We have to get smarter with (our) preparation for games." "Personally I have to bring it in the beginning of games. I have to demand continuity on the defensive end and set the tone. Thats something I have to do in the future." Small lineup excludes Valanciunas in the fourth Once again, Casey and the Raptors chose to go small through most of the fourth quarter, which on this night meant Jonas Valanciunas was left watching the games conclusion from the bench. For the second straight night Valanciunas got off to a quick start, scoring eight of his teams first 12 points. However, he became an afterthought from there as his teammates failed to keep him involved. He attempted one shot after the opening 12 minutes. Valanciunas played all but 22 seconds of the third quarter but didnt see the floor at all in the fourth, this coming a day after he anchored the small lineup in the final four minutes against the Heat, with Amir Johnson on the bench for the entire frame. "I thought Amir and Tyler did a heck of a job," Casey said in defence of his decision to leave his sophomore on the bench. "Rotating those three is huge, theres not one guy (were) going to favour (over) the other." Through the first five games of the season, Valanciunas has scored 30 points in 47 first-quarter minutes and just 19 points combined, in 72 minutes the rest of those games. "I dont think they go away from him," Casey responded, asked about that trend. Taking the Cats lightly The Bobcats have been a perennial bottom dweller over the last three years yet for whatever reason, the Raptors havent been able to take advantage when visiting Time Warner Cable Arena. They havent won in Charlotte since Mar. 29, 2010, a span of six games. Asked if they may have taken the Bobcats lightly in the past, DeRozan - who had a rough night with 14 points on 5-of-16 shooting - came up with another possible explanation. "(Its) just tough coming here," DeRozan said. "Youve got to maintain your own energy. The crowds not always that great, weve just got to find ways to motivate ourselves out of the gate." Up next The Raptors have an off day following the back-to-back before visiting the undefeated Indiana Pacers on Friday. Detroit Pistons Gear . Cilic cruised to victory, beating the seventh-seeded Seppi 6-1, 6-3 in just 72 minutes. He faced only one break point, winning 24 out of 29 points played on the first serve. Pistons Jerseys 2020 .com) - The Chicago Blackhawks take aim at their longest winning streak of the season on Sunday when they host the Calgary Flames in a battle at the United Center. https://www.cheappistonsonline.com/ . The England international had both goals in TFCs season-opening 2-1 win over the Seattle Sounders on Saturday.HOUSTON -- Aaron Brooks had played just 15 minutes in his last six games and acknowledged he was a little shaky when he entered Houstons game against Minnesota late in the first quarter. It didnt take him long to settle down. Brooks scored a season-high 26 points to pick up the slack for the injured James Harden, and the Rockets beat the Timberwolves 112-101 on Saturday night. "When your All-Star goes out it takes a collective group to get it done," Brooks said. "Thats what we did -- everybody. Dwight (Howard) gave up a little bit of himself in scoring, passed it to others and we got the job done." Brooks, who entered the game averaging 2.8 points, had a big second quarter, making four 3-pointers and scoring 16 points. He finished with six 3-pointers. It was his most points since scoring 28 for the Rockets against Utah in April of 2010. Coach Kevin McHale talked about the challenge of Brooks stepping in when he hadnt been getting a lot of playing time. "Its very difficult," McHale said. "His second quarter was special. He really had it going. He was making shots. Aaron did a great job tonight." The Rockets led throughout, and Omri Casspi, Jeremy Lin and Brooks made consecutive 3-pointers in a 9-0 run to start the fourth quarter and extend the lead to 91-74. Harden, who leads the Rockets with 24.2 points per game, sat out with a sore left foot. Lin started in his place and scored 19, but it was Brooks who shined. "(Brooks) was amazing," Howard said. "Shot the ball well, played great defence ... (he) was a big reason why we won the game." Kevin Love had 27 points and 15 rebounds, and Corey Brewer scored 22 for the Timberwolves. "When you try to make runs they kept hitting 3s," Love said. "We showed fight, but in the end its really tough when the first three shots of the fourth quarter are from 3 and they hit three in a row." Brooks, whos in his second stint with the Rockets, is a crowd favourite and the home fans cheered wildly every time he entered the game. Brooks also had five assists, four rebounds and a steal. "Well, I coached him, so Ive seen him do that a lot,&" said Minnesota coach Rick Adelman, who coached Brooks in Houston from 2008-11. Cheap Pistons Jerseys. "It doesnt surprise me." Patrick Beverley had 17 points and made a career-high five 3-pointers, and Terrence Jones added 18 points and had 10 rebounds for Houston. Howard had 11 points and led the team with 13 rebounds. McHale loved the balanced scoring effort with Harden out, but was unhappy that his team had 23 turnovers to just 10 by the Timberwolves. "I told our guys we have to play more efficiently and a little bit smarter," McHale said. "Weve got to create more space for each other on the floor so we can attack." The Rockets led 82-74 entering the fourth quarter. The Timberwolves used a 15-4 spurt in the third quarter, fueled by three 3-pointers, to cut Houstons lead to 65-57. Love made a 3-pointer before a turnover by Chandler Parsons that led to a dunk by Brewer capped the run. An exasperated McHale put his hands on his head as he watched Brewers dunk and quickly called a timeout. McHales short pep talk must have gotten Houstons attention. The Rockets responded with a 10-5 run to extend their lead to 75-62 with about 3 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter. The Rockets led by eight points late in the second quarter before using a 9-2 run thanks to three straight 3-pointers, including two by Brooks, to stretch the lead to 52-37. Minnesota scored five quick points on a dunk by Kevin Martin and a 3-pointer from Brewer to close the gap. But Lin sunk a 3-pointer at the buzzer to extend Houstons lead to 55-42 at halftime. NOTES: McHale said Harden visited a doctor on Saturday and they are going to change his treatment plan. He said Harden will likely miss Mondays game as well. ... Lin had a bump on his forehead and was holding ice on it after the game. It was unclear how he was injured and he wasnt available to reporters after the game because he was seeing a doctor. ... Also out for the Rockets on Saturday were Ronnie Brewer, who has a strained right calf, and Greg Smith, who has a sprained right knee. ... It was Howards ninth double-double of the season. ... Ricky Rubio had eight assists for Minnesota. ' ' '