It is unfamiliar territory for the Phoenix, who have thrived on a “nobody believes in us” mentality throughout their brief existence as New Zealand’s sole professional football team.

The skid is over.

Bargnani hit a season-high for points with 36 in his first game back after missing the past six and the Raptors won a game against Phoenix for the first time in 15 tries.

The 99-96 win was the Raps first against Phoenix since Feb. 10, 2004.

Steve Nash no longer owns Canada’s team.

“Andrea coming back makes things easier for everyone else,” head coach Dwane Casey said. “He opens up the lanes for (Leandro Barbosa) to get in there for layups, James (Johnson) could get in the lane and get on the offensive boards. He’s kind of a hub everyone can play off of.”

The eight-game skid is over and it’s a good thing too because this trip only gets tougher.

From Phoenix, the Raptors head directly to Salt Lake City for a date with the red-hot Utah Jazz and then on to face an equally hot Denver team.

The Raptors needed this one in the worst way and Bargnani’s return helped make it happen.

“Our guys did a good job of fighting from behind,” Casey said. “We could have pitched a tent and called it a day there early in the game but they showed fortitude, they stuck together.”

THE CHANGING LINEUP

Against the Suns it was Aaron Gray in and Amir Johnson out, but circumstances meant little time for either centre in the game. Gray lasted just over six minutes to start the game and wound up with 15.

Johnson had just under 13 minutes.

When the Suns went small, it meant no chance for the Raptors to go with two bigs and that meant moving Bargnani over to centre.

Casey said he was happy with Gray’s work in the third when he set some hard screens but there was very little to judge whether this is going to be a starting five Casey sticks with or not.

There is no question Casey was not pleased with the way Amir loafed in Los Angeles, but there’s equally no question that the Raps are better served with Johnson in the middle, assuming he plays with the kind of energy he is known for.

Either way Casey could not let what Johnson did, or more correctly didn’t do, on Sunday go without some kind of response.

“Whatever we can do to get off to that start we will,” Casey said before Tuesday’s game. “Accountability as a whole is a big part of what we are doing going forward and it has been already but even moreso because if we don’t have the guys coming out with the energy, coming out running the floor — I’m not saying making shots or missing shots, that has nothing to do with it — but not making the hustle plays or running the floor, having a sense of urgency on the defensive end and playing with a physicality on the offensive end, then we have to get somebody in who will do that. That’s the only way you can change things.”

BARGNANI STARTS SLOW

Bargnani began the game as one would expect a guy who had been out of the lineup for almost two weeks. He couldn’t hit a shot. In fact his missed his first four before a 10-foot turnaround jump shot found it’s way all the way down.

He finished the first half going 2-for-8 from the field but got to the line a few times and was a perfect 5-for-5 from there.

Still, not quite Bargnani-esque for this year, but understandable.

Casey warned the return wouldn’t fix everything.

“Getting him back is not a total cure-all,” Casey said. “He’s been out for a couple of weeks with a serious injury so we don’t want to put that kind of pressure on him. But it will be a big plus because he is one of our best shooters and he will give us some spacing.”

Casey was right, for a half, but those first-half struggles were long gone memories by the end of the third quarter where Bargnani poured in 18 points over the 12 minutes including a perfect three-for-three from beyond the arc.

The Raps scored 31 points in the quarter to go with the 31 in the second quarter giving them back-to-back quarters of 30 or more for the first time all season.

Including the fourth quarter in Los Angeles on Sunday that’s three of four with 30 or more.

JAMES FINDS RANGE

James Johnson is in the lineup because he is a very athletic and active defender. He leads the team in both blocks and steals and gets his teammates extra possessions.

But for the second night in the past three games, Johnson was a big contributer in scoring, particularly in the first half when both Bargnani, who would later get it going, and DeMar DeRozan (who never did) were struggling.

Johnson went 5-for-6 in that first half for 12 big points while the guys who normally carry the scoring were struggling.

Johnson wound up with 18 points, five shy of the season high 23 he put up against the Trail Blazers on Friday. If that wasn’t enough he also had 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the year.

His work, and that of Linas Kleiza who also had 10 rebounds, on the boards was key in the second half.

You can watch the game live on TSN at 9pm et/6pm pt. Toronto has dropped eight in a row and 10 of its last 11 games. It opened a five-game road trip with a 103-91 loss against the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday at Staples Center, as Leandro Barbosa and Linas Kleiza ended with 19 and 16 points, respectively, for the Raptors.

The Phoenix have recorded consecutive road wins for the first time in the football club’s history with the 1-nil victory over the Jets in Newcastle propelling the Wellingtonian’s into third spot on the A-League ladder.

Winless on the road this season until their 1-0 win over Gold Coast last week, the Phoenix continued their resurgence away, inflicting a rare home loss on the Jets who had only gone down twice at Ausgrid Stadium in their previous eight matches.

The training ground taunts are also finally over for Manny Muscat.

The Maltese scored the lone goal, breaking his scoring duck in his 85th match for the club, as the Phoenix leapfrogged the Melbourne Heart to be only one point behind reigning premiers Brisbane.

The Jets, who had the chance to break into the top six with a win, remain second last.

At least that’s the hope after a season-first win in Australia – Tim Brown’s late heroics snatching a 1-0 triumph on the Gold Coast on Sunday – and with the pressure valve released the fourth-placed Phoenix have enjoyed a few days lapping up the sun at Sydney’s Coogee Beach in preparation for tonight’s date with the ninth-placed Jets in Newcastle.

Wednesday’s favourable results have left the Phoenix just one point behind third-placed Melbourne Heart and two points clear of fifth-placed Perth Glory as the run into the A-League finals intensifies.

A Phoenix victory at Ausgrid Stadium would be the first time the club has won back-to-back away games and would turn an already profitable trip into a resounding success.

Speaking from the team bus on the road up the coast to Newcastle yesterday, Herbert said his players were ready to go again after freshening up by the beach.

“I’ve just balanced the work and made sure everyone’s legs are OK,” Herbert said.

“They’re a tight-knit group and there’s a really good feel in the team now.

“It’s been refreshing, they have got their rehab done properly and we’ll see how we go. The expectation of getting anything coming away was minimal, from a lot of people, so to get three points in the first game has been good. We’ll be wanting to chase another three that’s for sure.”

Herbert said he would wait until today before picking his team but it is unlikely he will tinker much, if at all, with a winning lineup.

Vince Lia has stayed in Wellington to nurse a badly bruised knee but is likely to be fit for next weekend’s home game against the Heart.

That leaves Leo Bertos and Daniel, who both played well off the bench against Gold Coast, putting pressure on Nick Ward in midfield, but otherwise it should be status quo.

Herbert was thrilled with the way Bertos responded to his demotion, the All Whites winger producing some of his old attacking verve as the Phoenix pressed for a goal on Sunday.

“It was fantastic, he’s got an excellent attitude and when he came on we saw signs of what Leo’s capable of. So very pleased and he’s trained well, so there’s some thought leading into the game of what we could do. It’s great to have that sort of strength coming off the bench.”

The Phoenix have comfortably beaten Newcastle twice this season in Wellington, scoring seven goals and conceding two.

Teammate Broc Tickle, on the other hand, had a tough night in the Supercross Class. An early crash in his heat sent him to the Last Chance Qualifier, where he ended the race just shy of a qualifying position. “I struggled all night with feeling comfortable,” said Tickle. “This week I’m really working on starts and am looking to rebound in LA.

“I’m really happy with [Anaheim],” said Villopoto. “We’re right where we need to be with my KX450F and fitness, and we will just keep pushing into next week. There are a lot of rounds left, so we will just keep doing what we’re doing and stay consistent.”

As much as RV dominated his field, there are still 16 races left. Last year Villopoto also won the opening round but was denied a second victory by none other than James Stewart. In looking forward to the next round, TwoTwo Motorsports’ Chad Reed was one of the few riders to excel over Anaheim’s tricky conditions. The day started on a poor note for the Aussie, who was uncomfortable and struggling during practice and qualifying.

“The track was totally different to what we had tested on in the lead up to the start of the season,” Reed explained. “It really only had one line so it was very hard to pass on.”

The team owner/rider overcame the challenges when his team made radical changes prior to the heat race, which allowed the veteran to win the match and secure a top gate pick. In the end Reed finished the night in second despite a fall on Lap 14. Salvaging a great result under difficult conditions, Reed proved he can be strong even on a night when not everything goes his way.

There’s still no word if Honda’s Trey Canard will return at Phoenix. After suffering two broken femurs and a broken collarbone in 2011, many would expect the 21-year-old’s return to the podium to be slow. However, this little birdie believes Canard will easily find the box during his first return and maybe more, so keep a lookout for the No. 41 bike.

Just one round into the season and Ryan Dungey is already setting milestones for KTM. The Austrian marque landed its first SX class podium with the former champ after battling with Reed in the final laps. Following the team’s short celebration, however, the bar has already been raised for Dungey. Under stiff guidance from team manager Roger DeCoster, most felt RD5 could have passed Reed if he were more aggressive. This will become a deciding factor in Dungey’s career as his cautious nature is currently preventing him from possibly winning another championship.

The assembled: a gaggle of media surrounding Phoenix coach Ricki Herbert. The questions: “Why are the Phoenix so good at home but so poor on the road?” and variations thereof.

Unfortunately Herbert is yet to come up with any answers as the fourth-placed Phoenix are yet to taste success on Australian soil in six attempts this season.

The retention of Durante, a popular leader and one of the A-League’s premier centre backs, had been forecast, but nonetheless securing his signature yesterday is a massive coup.

Other clubs had been sniffing around but the 29-year-old has worked hard in building a tight-knit team culture in Wellington and with wealthy owners on board the future is bright.

Durante, an Australian, has gone close to making the Socceroos but is now flirting with the idea of representing New Zealand when he fulfils the residency criteria next year.

With star striker Paul Ifill having already committed to a new long-term deal with the Phoenix, attention now turns to Sanchez and Muscat, who are also coming off contract.

Coach Ricki Herbert said the club would start conversations with Sanchez – who is in red-hot goalscoring form – and his agent on Monday.

Muscat, who was plucked out of Victorian Premier League obscurity by the Phoenix, has established himself as one of the toughest tacklers in the league, and Herbert hoped he would re-sign within seven days.

“Manny is very close and hopefully we can get some common ground, which I’m anticipating,” Herbert said.

“He has [got other offers], he’s come from nothing to putting himself in the shop window so that’s credit to him, he’s done a great job for us.

Given they have yet to record a win in Australia this year and seven of their last 11 matches are away, getting the six points from the double-header at Westpac Stadium will be crucial to their top six aspirations.

“It’s disappointing, our form away,” admitted Phoenix coach Ricki Herbert.

“But our form at home has been great. It’s not easy for teams coming across this way.”

“We’ve got to try and keep that record intact. Sydney will be disappointed after getting well beaten 4-0 (by Melbourne Heart) last week. They will be desperate. We need to be desperate.”

While Sydney’s home form may be poor their record on the road this season is excellent and a win for the Phoenix on Wednesday is by no means a given.

Sydney have lost just once in seven away games this season – 2-1 against Wellington at Westpac Stadium at the end of November when Tim Brown’s wonder goal from more than 40 metres out sealed the victory.

“They are a difficult team,” admitted Herbert.

“We have always had a very, very strong battle with them and we’ve probably been a little bit more successful at home against them. Hopefully that continues.”

The victory against the Sky Blues sparked a good run of form for the Phoenix who followed up with wins against Perth, Brisbane Roar and Newcastle Jets that has lifted them to fifth on the ladder.

“We’re doing okay. We’re at the halfway stage and we’re fifth and nobody picked us to be anywhere near that,” said Herbert.

“We’ve got to stay resilient. We’ve got to keep rolling with the punches. It’s a good chance for us with back-to-back home games. We’ve been good at home. We need to be better away.”

Meanwhile, Tarrawanna striker Ricky Zucco will spend the next 10 days training with the Phoenix.

Zucco, who has finished as top scorer in the Illawarra Premier League for the last two years, had his first run with the A-League club on Tuesday.

“He’s been doing well over there. We probably would have brought him in a little bit earlier but the Christmas period is congest with games so we felt off the back of two home games he could spend a bit more time here and be a bit more settled,” said Herbert.

“He’s got some good raps. It’s his first training session this morning so he’ll spend a bit of time here and see where that ends up.”

It started off well enough with a good performance in the regular young v old game amongst the Phoenix players.

He scored twice to help the “young” side to a rare victory.

“He’s a very good finisher. He’s a powerful striker,” said Paul Ifill.

“To be fair that’s only the second time the young’uns have beaten us all season. I don’t know if that bodes well or not. He was good for the young’uns. He scored a couple of goals and you can’t really ask for more than that on your first day.”