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TORONTO - Coming off a pair of wire-to-wire victories, the revamped Raptors offence will come face-to-face with the Charlotte Bobcats (11-14) and their improved defence at the Air Canada Centre on Wednesday. Listen live on TSN 1050 Radio beginning at 7pm et. Although the Raptors (9-13) have had a renewed confidence about them since dealing Rudy Gay - theyve won three of four games since the trade - the lowly Bobcats continue to be a perplexing thorn in their side. The Bobcats, who snapped a three-game losing streak with a 95-87 victory over Sacramento on Tuesday, have lost their last three games in Toronto but theyve won six straight over the Raptors in Charlotte and their most recent meeting is one that still haunts Dwane Casey. "Theyre a very difficult team for us to play against, to defend, to score on," Casey admitted after practice on Tuesday, reflecting on a crushing 92-90 Nov. 6 loss in Charlotte. "They came out and attacked us at their place and did what they wanted to do to us." "Charlotte happens to have our number and weve got to come out in attack mode against them and try to get that corrected." Toronto got off to a slow start in that contest and the comeback ultimately fell short in the dying seconds when Caseys team failed to commit a foul to extend the game. "For us, we definitely have to match their energy," said Amir Johnson, who had 13 points and seven rebounds against the Bobcats earlier in the season. "We looked over film [from that game] but weve got a new team. We know what they like to do and the main thing weve got to do is outwork those guys." This Raptors team is looking and playing a lot different than the one that fell to Charlotte last month. Gay, who led them in scoring with 20 points in that loss, is gone and Torontos offence has been more cohesive as a result. Last in the league in assists prior to the trade, the Raptors have recorded 20 or more dimes in three of the last four games, also shooting at least 45 per cent from the field in a season-high four straight contests. "[The ball is] moving pretty well," said newcomer Greivis Vasquez, averaging 9.5 points and 4.0 assists in two games with the Raptors. "I think our offence is so smooth, any offence is so smooth when you pass the ball and were doing that lately." For more on the Raptors improved offence and the beneficiaries of the seven-player trade, listen to TSN 1050s Raptors Report podcast. Although the Bobcats rank next to last in scoring, theyre much improved on the other end of the floor under new head coach Steve Clifford. Charlotte is allowing fewer than 93 points per contest, only two NBA teams surrender less. On Tuesday the Bobcats held Sacramento to 87 points, their 21st time holding an opponent under 100, the most in the league this season. "Theyre packing the paint, guys are making you shoot jump shots against them," Casey said of Charlottes improved defence. "Protecting the paint is a big thing, youre going to have to make jump shots, youve got to get open on the wings, youve got to be strong with the ball because theyre getting into it." Trends and Tidbits With back-to-back wins over Philadelphia and Chicago, the Raptors havent trailed in eight quarters of basketball. Its the first time theyve won consecutive games without trailing since January 2013 against the 76ers and Bobcats. The Raptors held Chicago to an opponent season-low 77 points on Saturday. It was also the first time Toronto has held an opponent under 40 per cent shooting this year. Caseys Raptors teams are 23-9 when holding teams under 40 per cent, including an 11-1 mark last season. Although the Bobcats entered Tuesdays game last in both threes per game and three-point field goal percentage, they shot 8-for-17 from long range against the Kings and are now 4-2 on the season when making six or more treys. Bobcats guard Kemba Walker, who is heating up after a rough start to the season, is averaging 20.4 points over his last eight games. What to Watch For Boxing out Although the Raptors opened the season as one of the best rebounding teams in the league, Coach Casey has noticed a slippage in that category of late and has used practice time this week to address it. "We had that same issue in the exhibition season and we corrected it," Casey said, concerned about his teams effort boxing out and establishing rebounding position in practice. "Weve just got to continue to work on it. Its a very difficult thing to do now because you dont want to do a lot of banging on the bodies just because of the time of year it is but mentally you can focus in and lock in." The Raptors coach penalized players for giving up offensive rebounds in Tuesdays practice, forcing them to do running drills and hopes he has gotten through to his team going into a matchup with the physical Bobcats frontcourt. Throw the first punch Although the Raptors loss to Charlotte in November ended with a controversial final play, Casey stressed that it should have never come to that. Toronto was dominated in the first quarter, outscored 32-18 as the Bobcats shot an astonishing 15-for-20 from the field in the period. "It was the worst quarter, other than the Golden State fourth quarter, that weve had," Casey admitted. "So weve got to come in this game energized, ready to attack." The Bobcats got off to another hot start on Tuesday, besting the Kings 35-22 after 12 minutes. However, Toronto seems to have rectified its slow starts of late. The Raptors have won all four first quarters since the trade, outscoring opponents by a combined total of 40 points. Although theyve won all four fourth quarters as well, theyve lost six of eight second and third frames over that span. Who to Watch For Amir Johnson After a slow start to the season, Johnson has picked up right where he left off following last years breakout campaign. The Raptors forward was sent to the bench for a couple games until an injury to Tyler Hansbrough helped earn him his job back. Since then hes been lights out. Johnson is shooting 71 per cent, averaging 20.0 points and 9.0 boards in his last six games. "Players go through slumps, hes had is, hes back now," Casey said of his starting four-man. Without Gay in the lineup, the Raptors are moving the ball and running more pick and rolls, which has been largely responsible for Johnsons reemergence. He has also found instant chemistry playing alongside Vasquez. "Hes a great pick and roll player," Vasquez said of his new teammates. "He can catch, he sets good screens and its going to open up so many different things, its only been two games." Gerald Henderson Like Johnson, Henderson is one of the more unheralded players in the association and the Bobcats guard has proven himself to be a bona fide Raptor killer over the years. In 11 career games against Toronto, Henderson is averaging 14.4 points on a red-hot 54 per cent shooting. Most recently, he scored 23 on 10-of-17 shooting in this seasons win over the Raptors. Cheap NBA Jerseys From China . A last-minute leveler ensured the two-time defending champion remained nine points ahead of Roma, which drew 0-0 at bitter rival Lazio in the capital derby. Cheap Nike NBA Jerseys . Hes recovered from a scary injury and cleared to play. 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Paul Goldschmidt homered twice, had a career-high six RBIs and set a team record with five runs scored, helping the Diamondbacks bash the Los Angeles Dodgers 18-7 on Saturday night in their first game since hiring Tony La Russa. "We hadnt really broken out this year and tonight we did," Arizona manager Kirk Gibson said. "Anybody they threw at us, we were patient, got good pitches to hit and hammered them." Hoping to shake out of an early season funk, the Diamondbacks announced before the game that they had hired La Russa as their chief baseball officer. Once it started, Arizona showed off its offensive capabilities by beating up on Clayton Kershaw (2-1), scoring seven runs in the second inning against the two-time Cy Young Award winner. The Dodgers came storming back with a five-run sixth to pull within 9-7, but Arizona kept hitting to set team records for runs, hits in a nine-inning game (21), extra-base hits (13) and triples in an inning (3 in the second). Goldschmidt was the catalyst, hitting a three-run homer in the seventh inning, a two-run shot in the eighth and adding two doubles to finish 4 for 5. Chris Owings finished a single shy of the cycle, Martin Prado had three RBIs and Chase Anderson (2-0) pitched into the sixth inning for Arizona. A.J. Pollock and Eric Chavez also homered, helping the Diamondbacks emphatically end a seven-game home losing streak to Los Angeles. "It was nice because we hadnt been scoring much lately, this entire year," Goldschmidt said. "Weve had better at-bats lately and tonight was a really, really good effort." The Dodgers tried to keep up even after the second-shortest outing of Kershaws career. Yasiel Puig hit a two-run homer to set one Dodgers record, tie another and stretch his hitting streak to 16 games. Carl Crawford also hit a three-run homer and the Dodgers had 13 hits. They just couldnt seem to keep the Diamondbacks from racing around the bases, going through five pitchers before turning to catcher Drew Butera to pitch in the eighth inning. "We just paid for our mistakes tonight," Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis said. "Give them a lot of credit they swung the bats extremely well. Anytime we were in the middle of the plate, they didnt miss it. TThat is what good teams do.ddddddddddddThat is a good team over there." Kershaw was solid in two starts off the disabled list and looked good in the first inning against the Diamondbacks, striking out two. It quickly fell apart in the second inning. Arizona followed Kershaws second walk of the season by pounding baseballs to the gaps, including three triples and a double. Cliff Pennington had the first triple, driving in two runs, then Pollock and Owings followed with run-scoring triples. Goldschmidt added a run-scoring double and Tuffy Gosewich and Prado had RBI singles, chasing Kershaw after 1 2-3 innings. Kershaw allowed seven runs -- three more than his season total -- and six hits, with three strikeouts, two walks and a balk. "Its kind of shocking anytime he has an inning like that," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. "You expect him to go seven or eight (innings) and give up two or three runs or less. If you can score you have a good chance of winning. Its definitely not the norm with him." Anderson won his major league debut against the Chicago White Sox last Sunday, but wasnt quite as sharp against the Dodgers. Puig hit the first pitch he saw in the third inning well over the wall in left-centre, the team-record eighth straight game he has had an extra-base hit and run batted in. Its the first such streak of nine games in the majors since Tampa Bays Evan Longoria did it in 2009. Puigs eight straight games with an RBI matched the team record held by four others, most recently Adrian Beltre in 2004. Anderson was lifted after giving up a three-run homer to Crawford and the Dodgers pulled within 9-7 on a two-run double by Andre Ethier off Evan Marshall. Anderson allowed five runs and seven hits in 5 1-3 innings. "I had to battle pretty much from pitch 1 today, but the offence came through and put up a lot of runs," Anderson said. "Its nice when you have that." NOTES: Arizona 2B Aaron Hill was scratched from the lineup with a sore right shoulder. ... Puig has six homers and 21 RBIs during his hitting streak. ... The last team to have three triples in an inning was Houston in the first inning against Washington on April 19, 2012. ... Arizona RHP Josh Collmenter will start the series finale against the Dodgers. He is 1-0 with a 3.42 ERA in his last four starts. RHP Dan Haren, who pitched for the Diamondbacks from 2008-10, will pitch for the Dodgers after allowing three runs in seven innings. ' ' '