TORONTO – Dwane Casey wants to see his Toronto Raptors return to being a "simple team."

The one from last season that captured the imagination of Raptors fans everywhere; the one from earlier this season that was the best in the Eastern Conference for 60 days.

"Everybody, every time we walked on the floor, had no agenda. Their heart was in the right place, both feet in the circle," said Casey after practice on Saturday. "I think success sometimes gets things blurred a little bit. That's what we talked about today getting back to the team concept. Everybody in the circle."

Following a 110-89 loss to the Eastern Conference-leading Atlanta Hawks, the Raptors held a brief practice Saturday.

"I think everybody has a sense of urgency right now," said Amir Johnson. "We know we have to pick it up. I think everybody is ready to start playing."

"Success causes you to overlook the little things a little bit," said Casey. "As a coach I've been preaching it... for the whole two months I was talking about how much we had to do the little things. From here on in, we are going to get back to the basics. We have to. If not the guys who are not doing it, are not going to be on the floor."

Atlanta made it look easy on Friday, shooting 61 per cent from the field, while Toronto committed 19 turnovers.

Since the calendar turned to 2015, the Raptors have lost six of eight (with wins coming against Philadelphia and Boston). They have given up 100 or more points in the five losses this month. A six-game homestand comes to an end Sunday (against the Pelicans) and the best the Raptors can do is a 3-3 record.

In Friday's loss to the Hawks, the Raptors starters were outscored 75-53. Terrence Ross in particular has struggled recently, scoring just seven points in the last two games, and has failed to reach double figures in points in four of his last five games. Jonas Valanciunas also struggled against Al Horford, managing to score four points.

Is it time to make a change to the starting unit?

"That's one thing we talk about but again, what are you going to do, throw Terrence Ross away?" said the head coach. "It's not one guy, it's not two guys it's our overall play hard approach – first unit, second unit. We've talked about it. It hasn't come to that time yet.

"We have confidence in all those guys. Again, like I've always said - like I said in the playoffs last year – T Ross is a young kid, JV is a young kid. All of our numbers probably don't give them a lot of credit. But they are still learning. There is a lot of room for growth. So you run the risk of possibly losing one of the young kids if you sit them down too quick."

The Raptors are facing some adversity right now. They entered play on Saturday 5 1/2 games back of Atlanta for top spot in the East. Toronto sits in third place with the Chicago Bulls challenging for that position.

Casey was an assistant coach with the Dallas Mavericks in 2011 when they won the NBA championship. In January of that season, the Mavericks went in a slump that saw them lose seven of eight.

"We thought the world was coming to an end," recalled Casey. "That adversity propelled us to win a championship. If everybody pulls together, do what they are supposed to do, learn from adversity the right way then you will be successful.

"We will learn from this. It is not panic time but it is time to get our nose dirty. It's not about x's and o's. It's about playing hard and getting dirty and being who you are on the floor."