Raptors beat Heat for the first time in five years

Toronto Raptors ended a 16-game losing streak against Miami Heat in a 102-92 victory on Friday night.

The victory was Toronto's first win against Miami since January 27, 2010.

"I thought we played as a team. Guys worked together, shots went in which was a great thing," said Raptors head coach Dwane Casey following the victory. "Most importantly, we played as a team on both ends of the floor."

Before tonight, Toronto had dropped four consecutive games and nine of their previous ten games. Raptors also plummeted to fourth place in the Eastern Conference standings, their lowest position since the first week of the season.

"Going through something like that should make us stronger, make us a better team," said an optimistic Casey. "I think we got all out of whack expectations. We weren't as good we are at the beginning of the year and we aren't as bad as we are, we're somewhere in between."

Casey's squad surprised the league with a franchise-best 24-7 record to start the season and have gone 15-19 since.

"We are a growing team and we aren't where we are going to be yet," said Casey. "Tonight is a great example of when we play together and do positive things as far as defence is concerned, we're a good team."

Since taking over the head coach role at the beginning of the 2011-12 season, Casey has taken a 22-win team to a franchise-best 48-win one in the last season.

Despite the team's relative success, Casey believes his team has yet to reach their full potential.

"Every night is a hard night. We're not good enough to play a half or three quarters," said Casey. "We got to play as many of the 48 minutes as we can to be successful on both ends of the floor. We're not in that elite status yet."

The win over Miami is Casey's first against the Heat in twelve tries and also a step in the right direction for the young Toronto squad.

Casey has 17 games remaining this season to develop his players towards the elite status before the start of the playoffs. Endi