The calendar year 2001 undoubtedly was the most significant in Raptors history.

That said, the year did not end on a particularly positive note for the injury-plagued and inconsistent club.

"Maybe we just need to get out of this month of December, man," Raptors forward Antonio Davis said. "I'm a superstitious person.

"Let's just start a new year, get out of December and move on. December has been nothing but injuries and ups and downs. It seems like it has gone on forever."

The Raptors went 6-8 in December, making it their first full month of losing basketball since they went 7-8 in December 2000. If you want to get technical about it, they also had a losing month in October 2001, when they lost their first two games to start the current season.

At this point, the Raptors appear to be missing the spark that propelled them to a successful playoff run last spring. They've been dogged by injuries to key personnel, but other teams go through injuries and manage to play with more cohesiveness and determination than the Raptors have of late.