Not looking past Toronto

Facing the Raptors tomorrow night at American Airlines Center concludes the four-game homestand and starts a run of four games in five days. Avery Johnson was asked after practice today how he prepares for such a stretch.

As you might expect, Johnson wasn’t looking past one of the more talented teams in the Eastern Conference. The Raptors may be off to only a 5-5 start, but they suit up one the league’s more dynamic power forwards in Chris Bosh, have a solid point guard tandem in T.J. Ford and Jose Calderon, and Andrea Bargnani has been called a Dirk Nowitzki starter kit.

“I’m just thinking about Toronto,” Johnson said. “That’s about it. Toronto is a terrific young team. Lots of shooters spread the floor. They didn’t finish well against Golden State last night. They had a tough fourth quarter. Otherwise they would have scored a lot of points.

“Chris Bosh is awfully good. Calderon and Ford are a terrific point guard combination. Bargnani can shoot it from Ft. Worth. We’ve just got to be ready for Toronto and stay focused on that and go from there.”

Toronto scored just 12 points in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s 106-100 loss to Golden State.