<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'></p> Maurizio Gherardini, wise sage, was walking down the hall at the United Center in Chicago, a rueful smile on his face.</p> "Basketball," said the assistant general manager of the Raptors, "it's a funny game."</p> Gherardini's team has just drilled the Bulls to the tune of 101-71, a rout of shocking proportions earned by dominance at both ends of the court, a relentless defence that never gave up a significant run, an offence orchestrated by two point guards who were at their non-scoring best.</p> Sort of like Toronto's easy victory over New Jersey just a week earlier. And they all know what happened after that.</p> So as the Raptors enjoyed yesterday off, earning a welcome three-day break from the relentless march of regular-season games, they were feeling good about themselves. Good. Not great.</p> "We played like this against New Jersey and then we came back and didn't play so well against Milwaukee," said coach Sam Mitchell, recalling a 106-69 decimation of the Nets that was followed four days later by a 112-85 capitulation against the Bucks. "We've got a couple of days to practise, get our feet back on the ground and continue to try to get better."</p> If there is a difference between now and then, it's that Chris Bosh has come up with three gems in a row, finally looking more like himself after a sluggish start to the season. Even in that win over New Jersey he was okay, not great, but in back-to-back road wins over Philadelphia and Chicago he was exceptional.</div></p> The Toronto Star</p>
