In the financial markets, it's called a dead-cat bounce: A stock falls so far and fast, it rebounds a little as investors try to predict a bottom, only to fall back for good and stay there.

As far as the NBA playoffs are concerned, the Toronto Raptors are pretty much dead cats.

But after months without any sign of positive momentum, they head to Florida to play the Orlando Magic tonight on a season-high, four-game win streak.

Have the 28-45 Raptors merely bounced? Or are they slowly regaining their equilibrium after a season in which all the wrong things kept happening?

Rather than play out the string, the Raptors seem committed to proving their first 70 or so games were an aberration brought on by a collision of worst-case scenarios.

"We've won four in a row, everyone is feeling really good and we're trying to stay positive," said Chris Bosh, who had 31 points and 15 rebounds against the Chicago Bulls last Sunday.

Bosh is still talking postseason, even though Toronto trailed Chicago for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference by seven games with eight to play before last night's action.

"We know our goal," he said. "We have very small room for error and we're playing like it."

It's not Bosh's job to figure out the value of four wins at home against teams with losing records. But Raptors president Bryan Colangelo has been signalling that there's a strong chance the current shape of the team will carry over into next season.

Colangelo said yesterday he has every intention of bringing back energizer Pops Mensah-Bonsu, a late-season free-agent find who has sparkled in his 10 games in Toronto .

The Raptors started the year with a more grinding offensive approach to take advantage of Bosh and the departed Jermaine O'Neal. But the benefits of running the ball more, and having a more balanced roster with Andrea Bargnani at centre and Shawn Marion at small forward, have been showing lately. Whether it's Marion in that spot or someone else, the benefit of an athletic small forward has been demonstrated, and up-tempo Basketball is likely here to stay.

"We made some changes, trying to find who we are, what works best, what lineups work," guard Anthony Parker said. "Up to this point, we just never found that."

Colangelo has been hinting broadly that interim head coach Jay Triano may be given the job full-time, despite a 20-36 record.

Bosh seems to second that.

"The situation he was in, taking over a team that was struggling, it's been a tough job and I don't know too many guys out there who could do the things he's done," the all-star forward said.

The questions are: Does some version of the status quo mean the Raptors can get back into the East playoffs, and is that a worthy short-term goal? The Raptors were only 11 wins behind Orlando before their first-round playoff series last year. This year, the Magic are on pace for 60 wins, while the Raptors will need a strong finish to break 30.

"We're a different team," Bosh said. "We have five or six different players, they've moved into the elite of the Eastern Conference. They've worked well with what they had.***

SCORESHEET

Notes During their four-game winning streak, the Toronto Raptors are averaging 115.3 points a game, compared to their season mark of 98.5 points. The Phoenix Suns lead the NBA in scoring with 109 points a game. ... The Raptors will stay an extra day in Florida before flying to New York to play the Knicks on Saturday. ... Orlando Magic centre Dwight Howard is rarely mentioned as an NBA most valuable player candidate, but he's had a monstrous season, averaging 21 points, 14 rebounds and three blocked shots a game.

Next game Tonight, at Orlando Magic, 7 p.m. ET

TV TSN2

Radio The Fan