But until they find that middle ground, until they are consistent in the work ethic and as accomplished on the defensive end as they are on offence, it is going to be a bumpy ride.

Like it has been through two disparate season-opening outings.

With a couple of old bugaboos popping up again - porous coverage of the offensive boards and inconsistent work ethic - the Raptors suffered a 115-107 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies that took a lot of shine off that season-opening spanking of the Cavs.

"We still have to get out of letting our offence dictate what we do on the defensive end," said Chris Bosh, who had a 37-point, 12-rebound gem.

"They got a lot of easy stuff, they got some offensive rebounds that we need to clean up and we just didn't do some fundamental things."

Very fundamental, according to coach Jay Triano.

"I don't like getting outworked by teams and I thought we were," he said.

It's hard to imagine the Raptors being complacent after just one game of an 82-game season but that's what it looked like for long stretches last night.

They began horribly, allowing the Grizzlies to shoot 56 per cent in the first half and carve out a four-point lead.

They battled back with a strong third quarter and a quick start to the fourth and led 88-80 with about 10 minutes to go.

But then the final, game-killing lapse came, Memphis tied it with an 8-0 run, answered a Toronto bucket with a three-pointer and the Raptors never led again.

"You have to keep digging in. ... We're on the road, they've got their crowd on their side and we have to create our own energy and we just weren't able to do that for 48 minutes," said Jarrett Jack.

No one was more culpable than Andrea Bargnani, who followed a great Game 1 with a dog of a Game 2. He was scoreless in the first half and the fourth quarter, getting all 12 of his points in the third.

He was abused in the post by Memphis's Marc Gasol and eventually fouled out late in the fourth.

Toronto's inability to stop Gasol, who had 19 points, and Zach Randolph, who had 30, were the low points of a bad defensive effort by the Raptors .

"The whole game, they just wore us down inside and they just had more energy all night. That was a hungry Basketball team," Triano said. "They came out with a lot more passion and hustle for the Basketball and you could see how they chased it off the glass all night.

"As the game wore on, Gasol and Randolph kept pounding it inside on us and they were able to take advantage of that."

Without anyone with a large measure of grit, the Raptors simply allowed Gasol and Randolph to set up too close the basket. Once they caught the ball, it was one dribble and a shot or a quick pass out to a shooter.

"We have to not let them catch it so easily, which is work and effort," Triano said. "And we were letting them catch the ball too deep and we let them make direct passes into the post and we can't let that happen."

Hedo Turkoglu had a tough night, going 4-for-10 from the floor with four turnovers and one assist. His assimilation into the lineup isn't going to be as easy as it looked in the opener.