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MONTREAL - The Alouettes could be pushed past their breaking point if Montreal ends up on the wrong side of another lopsided loss. Montreal lost to the BC on July 19 and the Toronto Argonauts last week by a combined score of 72-10 — their lowest two-game point tally in almost three decades — and will have a hard time against the high-scoring Edmonton Eskimos on Friday. Catch the game on TSN starting at 7pm et/4pm pt. "Theres always a breaking point," said head coach Tom Higgins, whose Alouettes have lost three games in a row and have not scored a touchdown in their last two. "Right now, — and Im not threatening anybody — we havent gotten to the breaking point, but it could be Friday. And I dont want it to be Friday. I would like for it to be smooth sailing, but there are still things that have to be tweaked here and there." Higgins said it wasnt time to sit quarterback Troy Smith, whos started all five games this season for Montreal (1-4), but the Alouettes coach wants his QB to start coming out of the gate firing. That hasnt happened much this season. Montreal has trailed at the half four times this year, has scored a league-low six touchdowns, and Smith has the worst pass rating amongst starting quarterbacks. Against the Lions, the 30-year-old Smith threw a measly 45 passing yards in three quarters of play before he was taken out in the fourth. B.C. took an early lead and never looked back, pounding Montreal 41-5. Against Toronto, the Als conceded four consecutive touchdowns en route to a 31-5 loss. But Eskimos quarterback Mike Reilly, who has yet to beat Montreal in two career starts, doesnt think hell pick apart the Als defence when Edmonton (4-1) rolls into town on Friday. "I dont look at how many points theyve given up; I look at their personnel," said Reilly, who will make his 26th career start on Friday. "Theyre a very good defence. They have a lot of good athletes out there. We really have to be on our A game to go in and play against these guys. "The way their season has gone so far, you know theyre that much hungrier for a win. Theyre a dangerous football team to play against. Its going to be a hard-fought football game." The numbers, however, tilt heavily in Reillys favour. The Eskimos are unbeaten on the road so far this season (2-0), and theyre playing some of their best defence in years. Chris Joness men have given up the fewest yards in the Canadian Football League, have given up the fewest first downs, and have the leagues best pass defence. Edmonton has only allowed 84 points in five games this season — what the Alouettes have given up in their last nine quarters. "Dont think for a moment its a rollover game, that Edmonton will just come in here and take two points from us," said Higgins. "Id be very disappointed if the team had that kind of mindset. They dont." Off the field, Montreal has been doing what it can to shake things up. On Monday, the Alouettes added former NFL and CFL quarterback Jeff Garcia to their coaching staff. A week earlier, the Als brought on their former coach and CFL Hall of Famer Don Matthews as a consultant. But the additions behind the bench wont intimidate Reilly and the Eskimos offence. Edmonton is second in the league with nine passing TDs, and second with 35 rushing first downs. Wide receiver Adarius Bowman leads the league with 359 receiving yards. "Everybody on our offence can play," said Reilly. "Were not building around a single guy, a superstar. We go and execute based on what the defence is doing. Other guys in our offence have stepped up. We go into every game expecting to win, and knowing that we should win." The Eskimos also make a point of holding onto the ball for long drives, ensuring their opponents defence stays on the field. The team keeps possession of the ball, on average, for a league-best 32 minutes per game. Montreal, on the other hand, is dead last in that category. "Theyre going to pin their ears back," said Higgins, conjuring the image of an attack dog, ready to pounce. "Edmontons coming in and theyre licking their chops. Theyre thinking: Good, this is what were going to do. Were going to shut them out, and were going to score 50 points. And its our job to not let us be shutout, and not let them score 50 points." Over the last two games, Montreal has converted just 22 of 59 pass plays, and has not visited the red zone in its last 37 possessions. "You have to show up on game day with an understanding of what youre going to execute: be nasty, be tenacious, be a dog," said Smith. "Understand that were in a slump. We dont want to be here, so something has to change. Become a different player, so to speak, mentally, and hopefully you get a different outcome." Notes: Als slotback S.J. Green (ribs) and offensive tackle Josh Bourke (knee) will be game-time decisions on Friday. … In 1985, the Alouettes scored a total eight points in two consecutive matches. … Montreal has yet to win a game when trailing after the first quarter. … The West has won 13 of 15 inter-divisional matches this season. … The Eskimos are coming off their only loss of the season, after falling 26-22 to the Calgary Stampeders. Tim Hardaway Jersey .J. -- Jaromir Jagr has hit so many NHL milestones this season for the New Jersey Devils that he is starting to downplay them. Draymond Green Jersey . The Rays hope to stay alive for the postseason and salvage the finale of this series Sunday at Rogers Centre, where they dropped a 7-2 decision Saturday. 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This wasnt an act, some attempt at psyching out Hoyer.MILWAUKEE - The playoff-bound Toronto Raptors found themselves trailing the hapless Milwaukee Bucks by nine points at halftime. DeMar DeRozan made sure the Raptors recovered to continue their push for post-season position. The Toronto guard scored 15 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter and the Raptors beat the Milwaukee Bucks 102-98 Saturday night to keep pace with the Chicago Bulls for the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference. "We cant look at a teams record, come in here and think this is going to be a cakewalk," DeRozan said. "That team came out here and played extremely hard. They kind of blindsided us and we had to fight the whole game." After the Raptors gave up 38 points in the paint to trail 56-47 at halftime, coach Dwane Casey lit into his team at halftime. "We let them shoot 58 per cent in the first half and I cant accept that," Casey said. "The first half, we were playing in mud. Standing up straight and it wasnt just the starters. Everybody who was in there." Toronto is tied the Bulls, who beat Washington on Saturday night, at 45-32 with five games to play. Milwaukee fell to an NBA-worst 14-63, guaranteeing the teams worst record in its 45-year history. "We want to win, but I think if we can play this competitive as a team every night, I think there are some better days to come," said Milwaukees John Henson, who had 23 points and nine rebounds in 39 minutes. Greivis Vasquez tied a season-high with 26 points for Toronto, which has won three consecutive games and six of seven. Vasquez, who averages 9.1 points, made up the scoring lost when starting point guard Kyle Lowry missed the game with a bruised left kneecap. "Coach jumped on us (at halftime) and we reacted pretty well," Vasquez said. "In the second half we came to play." DeRozan made six free throws in the final 24 seconds to seal the victory. "We always find ways to fight through," DeRozan said. "We tried to turn up the aggressiveness, especially in the fourth quarter.&quoot; Khris Middleton scored 20 points for Milwaukee, which has lost 13 of 14 games.dddddddddddd Middleton made 6 of 9 shots after a shooting slump in which he made 14 of 41 over the past four games. DeRozan made a pair of free throws to give the Raptors a 98-94 lead with 24 seconds left. Giannis Antetokounmpo then made two free throws to pull Milwaukee within 98-96 with 20 seconds left. DeRozan made two free throws to give Toronto a 100-96 lead with 18.6 seconds to go. Jeff Adrien dunked with 11 seconds left, but DeRozan made two more free throws to cap the scoring. Both teams played short-handed for the second consecutive night. Lowry and starting forward Amir Johnson were out with injuries for Toronto. Milwaukee had only eight players available due to injuries. The Bucks was 1 of 9 from 3-point range while Toronto was 12 of 27. "That is where the difference was," Milwaukee coach Larry Drew said. "If you look at all the other categories, I believe we outscored them in the paint, more assists. A lot of good things we did do, but the 3-point line we did not do a good job defending." There were nine lead changes in the fourth quarter, but Vasquez hit a 3-pointer to give Toronto the lead for good at 86-84 with 5:24 left. DeRozan then hit a free throw and made a 22-foot jumper to give the Raptors an 89-84 lead. The Bucks pulled within 89-88, but DeRozan scored on a driving runner and Jonas Valanciunas converted a 3-point play to give the Raptors a 94-88 lead with 1:43 to go. NOTES: F Chris Wright was signed to his second 10-day contract by the Bucks on Saturday. He scored four points in 16 minutes. ... The PA announcer drew big cheers from the Bradley Center crowd with periodic updates of the Wisconsin-Kentucky game in the NCAA tournament. ... The 1993-94 Bucks went 20-62, the teams previous worst record. ... Torontos 45th win ties for the franchises third most wins in a season. The team needs two wins in its final five games to match the team-record 47 wins, set in 2000-01 and 2006-07. ' ' '