TORONTO - After falling victim to slow starts in each of the last two games, both losses, Raptors coach Dwane Casey hinted change could be on the way. "Weve got to look at our starts," said Casey, the afternoon following a 90-83 defeat to Miami, one in which his team fell behind by nine in the first quarter. "Thats the second game in a row thats happened." Toronto allowed the Heat to shoot 52 per cent in the first quarter four days after the Nets shot 60 per cent in the opening 12 minutes of Tuesdays loss. Despite a second-half push, the Raptors failed to dig themselves out of an early-game hole in both contests, prompting Casey to suggest that a change could be imminent as soon as Sundays game, at home to Denver, or in Oakland against Golden State on Tuesday. "Whether its a lineup change or a change in personality," he continued, "weve got to look at something to start the game because we cant expend that much mental and physical energy to fight against all the teams were going against, and thats what its been the last couple of weeks." The Raptors - who used 22 different starting lineups last season, sixth most in the NBA - have started the same unit in each game to begin the campaign. After experiencing some success on the floor together - specifically on the defensive end - towards the end of last season, the group of Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan, Rudy Gay, Amir Johnson and Jonas Valanciunas has underachieved through 15 contests this year. That unit - the Raptors most used, both this season and last - outscored opponents by 85 points when they were in the game together a year ago, starting 21 of the teams final 25 games. They ranked third in the NBA in defensive efficiency among five-man units that played a minimum of 300 minutes together (only the Spurs and Grizzlies starting fives had a better defensive rating). This season they are a minus-35, per NBA.com/stats, and are allowing opponents to shoot 52 per cent from the field. They have shared the floor for 229 minutes while the teams second most-utilized unit - Lowry, DeRozan, Gay and Johnson with Landry Fields - has played just 34 minutes together. As a team, Toronto has been least effective in the first and third quarters, with the starters playing the bulk of the teams minutes. The Raptors are a plus-three in the opening frame and minus-39 in the third. Their best quarter has been the fourth - a period in which the starters have rarely played together - where their plus-45 mark is third best in the NBA (behind only the Pacers and Thunder). "I think you have to look at the chemistry, skill set, what they bring to the table, a little bit of everything," Casey said of a possible change. "I dont question our guys fight. Its not that were not playing hard, its just not meshing together with the first group." Two starters who could be on the hot seat are Johnson and Valanciunas. Both frontcourt players logged fewer than 18 minutes in Fridays loss and have failed to meet lofty pre-season expectations overall. Tyler Hansbrough, who played 25 minutes and helped turn the game around in the second half with his physicality, earned praise from his coach following Saturdays practice and could be a candidate to replace either Johnson or Valanciunas in the event Casey decides to make a change. "It may be just a matter of time to let it go," Casey said. "Were still searching, like a lot of teams in the league are doing. Were not panicking but weve got to make sure we understand and we get the right group together." Toronto hosts the Denver Nuggets Sunday afternoon, concluding a season-high four-game homestand before heading out west next week. Arizona Diamondbacks Store . Not that Durant cared. The only streak he cares about is still intact. Custom Arizona Diamondbacks Jerseys . Louis Blues just continue to roll -- especially against the Nashville Predators. https://www.cheapdiamondbacksjerseys.us/. The team said Saturday that the 36-year-old Robidas is expected to miss four to six months, jeopardizing his return this season. He was injured when he slid hard into the boards in the second period of a 2-1 shootout loss to Chicago on Friday. Stitched Diamondbacks Jerseys . Louis Cardinals continued their offensive tear with a 9-5 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the opener of a four-game series. Arizona Diamondbacks Gear . -- Houstons All-Star tandem of James Harden and Dwight Howard refused to let the Rockets give in to fatigue.BALTIMORE - Some people like to mark their birthday with a cake and candles. Nelson Cruz has a different approach. Cruz hit his 26th home run on his 34th birthday, and the Baltimore Orioles breezed past the skidding Texas Rangers 8-3 Tuesday night. "A homer and a victory. That was a nice day," Cruz said. "I like to celebrate with homers." In five career games on his birthday, Cruz is 7 for 19 with two long balls. On this night, his third home run in seven games left him only seven short of his career high of 33, set in 2009 with Texas. Cruz needs one more homer to match his total from last year with the Rangers, a season cut short by a 50-game suspension as part of the Biogenesis performance-enhancing drug scandal. None of that really matters to Cruz. After signing a one-year, $8 million contract with Baltimore during the off-season, he is focused on helping the Orioles earn a post-season berth for the second time in three years. "Its been a blessing. Im happy with the situation that we are as a team," he said. "Thats more important to me. The numbers, at the end of the season were going to look at it. But right now we focus on winning games, and thats what were doing." Steve Pearce and Caleb Joseph also went deep for the Orioles, who are assured of at least a split of the four-game series after winning the first two. Pearce and Cruz delivered solo shots in the first inning and Joseph connected with a man on in the second. It was the third homer in two nights for Pearce. T.J. McFarland (1-1) allowed two runs in a career-high five innings to win his second career start compared to 51 relief appearances. "He pitched as well as we thought he could," manager Buck Showalter said. "He makes our bullpen better, but its nice to know that you have that type of option down there with a guy if you can get the proper rest." Rangers rookie Nick Martinez (1-6) gave up eight runs, six earned, and seven hits in five innings. The right-hander is 0-5 with an 8.10 ERA in seven starts since earning his lone career win at Detroit on May 24. &qquot;I feel like I pitched better than what it showed," Martinez said.dddddddddddd. The Rangers (37-46) have lost 11 of 13 overall to fall nine games under .500 for the first time since they were 9-18 on April 29, 2008. Texas has dropped seven straight on the road, its longest such skid in six seasons. Shortstop Elvis Andrus, who made a key error, said: "As a player I always get mad when Im not enjoying the game, and thats exactly whats happening right now." For the second game in a row, Baltimore homered twice in the first inning. Pearce hit a liner in front of the left-field foul pole that glanced off the glove of Shin-Soo Choo and dropped over the wall. One out later, Cruz smacked a 1-1 pitch over the centre-field wall. Texas pulled even in the second when Adam Rosales hit a two-run double in his first at-bat of the season. In the bottom half, Joseph drove a 3-1 pitch into the front row of the left-field seats for a 4-2 lead. The three homers allowed by Martinez were a career high. The Orioles used three hits, a walk and an error to pull away with a four-run fourth. With the bases loaded, Andrus fumbled Josephs potential double-play grounder to allow a run to score. Nick Markakis followed with an RBI double and Pearce added a sacrifice fly. "It was an easy ground ball," Andrus said. "No excuse about it." Chris Gimenez hit a run-scoring grounder off Ryan Webb in the Texas sixth. But the Rangers went quietly after that in their ninth loss in 10 games against Baltimore, dating to last year. NOTES: Texas designated LHP Joe Saunders for assignment and recalled RHP Miles Mikolas from Triple-A Round Rock. Mikolas will make his first major league start on Wednesday. Nick Tepesch, who was slated to start Wednesday, was pushed back to Friday against the Mets. ... The Orioles activated OF Nolan Reimould (spine) from the 60-day DL and designated him for assignment. The oft-injured Reimold, 30, has played in 56 games since the start of the 2012 season. ... Texas Roughned Odor had two hits to snap a 4-for-29 skid. ' ' '