And with the league's Feb. 19 trade deadline approaching, rumours will continue to hover over a team that dropped its record to 16-25 following last night's 111-104 loss to the host Pacers.

Jermaine O'Neal returned to the lineup but showed the expected rust associated with a veteran who hadn't played since Dec. 29. He had two points, two turnovers, three fouls and seven rebounds.

No matter what happens between now and Feb. 19, the Raptors have to find a heart.

They had none for most of last night until it was too late.

Lifeless, hopeless, defenceless and careless, the Raptors had the look of a team that knows something dramatic is about to happen to its roster.

For those keeping count, they have lost four in a row.

Against a Pacers team that isn't exactly among the beasts of the East, the Raptors stood around on the perimeter and had little offensive flow.

Defensively, they were getting beat off the dribble and were slow in rotations. There was little in the way of communication on the floor and save for Jake Voskuhl's exhortations, Toronto's bench was lifeless.

The Raptors tried to go big by playing O'Neal, Chris Bosh and Andrea Bargnani and they even had the ball in Anthony Parker's hands when he operated from the point position, but nothing was working until a fourth-quarter comeback fell short.

In a classic case of too little too late, the Raptors went on an 11-0 run to begin the fourth quarter with Parker at the point. What was a 24-point Indiana lead was reduced to 89-76 three minutes into the final period.

Besides Parker, the Raptors went with a group that included Bosh, Bargnani, Jason Kapono and Jamario Moon.

Better ball movement led to better looks and made baskets.

Indiana missed a lot of shots and the result was a one-point game in the game's final minute, an incredible turnaround given how poorly Toronto had played.

Bosh led the Raptors with 25 points and 16 rebounds.

"We weren't very good in the first three quarters, for sure,'' interim head coach Jay Triano said. "There were some good things that happened at the end, but we didn't win the game.

"That's disappointing. We closed the gap, but then we made mistakes."