Lanschaften » Wednesday, March 5

TORONTO - As Dwane Casey called a timeout late in Fridays victory, one of his teams most impressive of the campaign, an honorary addition to the Raptors coaching body was the first to race out and rally the troops. Donning a charcoal blazer on top of his white t-shirt, Kyle Lowry immediately pulled aside his replacement, Greivis Vasquez, as the two point guards calibrated by the bench with less than a minute remaining. A reluctant spectator for the second straight contest, nursing his bruised knee, Lowry refused to take the night off. Not that anyone truly expected him to. "He was like our second or third coach," said Jonas Valanciunas. "He was kind of doing the same thing he does when hes in the game," added Terrence Ross. "Helping us with plays, drawing things up for us, being vocal." The Raptors would rather have him in uniform, dressed in red and white while leading his team in the trenches instead of on the sidelines, but they have more than held their own in his absence. For the second time in three days, Toronto - missing both Lowry and forward Amir Johnson - was able to knock off a top-six team, as the teams confidence continues to grow heading into the playoffs. "With us we feel like we can beat anybody when we step out there on the court, honestly," said DeMar DeRozan, who tallied 20 points and nine assists in his teams inspiring 102-94 win over the Indiana Pacers. "Theyre [a] top team in the East. We understand tonight was a big win at this time of the season." The Pacers - a team the Raptors could see in the second round of the playoffs, should they advance - are backing into the postseason. Frank Vogels club, losers of six straight games on the road and six of eight overall, had occupied the Easts top seed for most of the season before surrendering it to Miami last week. Vulnerable as Indiana may be, the Raptors have split the season series and given that they were without two starters on Friday, their latest victory was of the statement variety. "If theyre looking for themselves, whatever it is, its a win," Casey said. "Whatever their deal is, theyve won 53 games. Thats the way I look at it. Its a quality win." Fresh off a similarly opportunistic win over a Rockets team missing Dwight Howard and Patrick Beverley, the Raptors displayed characteristics you wouldnt expect from a young, undermanned group. They were resilient, hitting back after the Pacers cut into their 11-point cushion and took a lead of their own late in the game. They were tough, winning the battle on the boards and refusing to back down from Indys intimidation tactics. They embodied the seemingly irreplaceable qualities of their fallen comrades, Lowry and Johnson. Lowry - for better or for worse, in uniform or not - is the engine that drives this ship and even from the bench he couldnt help but to take control. "Its a little bit worse than what he does when hes in the game with you," DeRozan joked. "He just wont stop talking but hey, we deal with it, its cool. He shut up a little bit more once we were winning." "Id rather have him in uniform than in street clothes and coaching," Casey said, also having some fun at the expense of the vocal Lowry. "I tell Kyle this all the time, that when he becomes a coach I cannot wait to come watch his teams play." "Ill tell you what, Imma be that heckler in that stands. Boooo, coach." The relationship between Casey and Lowry has grown exponentially over the past 18 months. Theyre both strong-willed, passionate competitors. Whatever rift they may or may not have had last season - when the team was losing and Lowrys minutes were sporadic - appears to be a thing of the past. They understand and respect each other. Winning will do that. "I mean we have the same goals and thats to win as many games as we can win, make noise in the playoffs and compete our butts off," Casey said before the game. "Were tied together from that standpoint." The Raptors have navigated through the toughest stretch of their late-season schedule without Lowry and Johnson - out with a lingering ankle ailment - and can now afford to be more cautious with the health of their stars. Torontos final six regular season games come against sub-.500 competition, beginning with Saturdays contest against the lowly Bucks in Milwaukee. "The big picture is the most important thing," Casey acknowledged, "keeping guys healthy going forward." Sophomores stepping up Facing elite defenders at their positions, the Raptors duo of second-year starters came up big in the absence of Lowry and Johnson. Valanciunas, who scored 22 points on 14 shots, anchored Torontos defence and pulled down crucial rebounds in crunch time while vastly outplaying Pacers all-star centre Roy Hibbert. Meanwhile, Ross picked up the slack on offence, leading the team with 24 points - including five made threes - against a couple of tough wing defenders in Paul George and Lance Stephenson. "They came in and played with a lot of confidence, a lot of energy," Casey said of his sophomores. "They continue to get better and work hard at it every single day," DeRozan added. "They understand they play a key role on this team and us being successful. I credit tonights game to them because they came up big." De Colo making an impact With Vasquez stepping into Lowrys slot as the teams starting point guard, Casey has looked to trade deadline acquisition Nando De Colo off the bench. Even without scoring, the former Spurs guard has been making an impact with his energy and basketball intellect. He logged 23 minutes on Friday - most hes played with the Raptors - and with the increased role came a greater comfort level offensively. "He knows that hes going to get extended minutes with Kyle out," Casey said of De Colo, who scored 10 points and dished out five assists. "When youre in that situation you play a little more free and a little looser. Hes [being] himself and hes done an excellent job." The stat DeRozan, who had a team-high nine assists Friday, has now recorded five or more dimes in 24 games this year after doing so 18 times in his first four seasons combined. The quote "It should help their confidence," said Casey on the win. "To go against a team like Indiana without our two starters helps us but its not worth a darn if we dont come out [Saturday] night and have the same focus and energy and effort. Were happy, were excited about the win. I dont want to poo poo on it but weve got to turn it up and crank it up again tomorrow night. Mason Cole Jersey . 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Ricciardos exclusion from the results tarnished what had been a day of celebration for local fans, who were jubilant that the Red Bull driver had apparently become the first Australian to finish on the podium at his home race. However just before midnight, stewards ruled that Ricciardos car had "exceeded consistently the maximum allowed fuel flow" and that the team refused an instruction from the races technical delegate Charlie Whiting to change the fuel-flow sensor before the race and a further request during the race to reduce the fuel flow. Chase Edmonds Jersey . The All-Pro left tackle agreed to a five-year contract with the Eagles on Wednesday. Peters was signed for 2014, and his new deal adds four years through 2018.Canadas Sports Leader delivers all the news and analysis surrounding NHL Trade Deadline Day during TRADECENTRE 14 (#TradeCentre) – TSNs signature 10-hour event. Consistently ranking as the industrys most-watched and most-trusted source for NHL Trade Deadline Day news, TRADECENTRE 14 airs Wednesday, March 5 beginning at 8 a.m. ET on TSN. Before kicking off TRADECENTRE 14, TSNs team of Hockey Insiders and experts set up one of the most anticipated days of the hockey season during the 60-minute COUNTDOWN TO TRADECENTRE airing tomorrow (Tuesday, March 4) at 8:30 p.m. ET. From 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET on Wednesday, TRADECENTRE 14 delivers in-depth coverage of every trade. For fans at work or on-the-go, the entire broadcast will be available via live stream on TSN.ca and on the brand new TSN Hockey app. TRADECENTRE 14 will also be available live on NHL Network in the U.S. Immediately following TRADECENTRE 14 on TSN, host Rod Smith recaps the days events with reaction from around the NHL on SPORTSCENTRE at 6 p.m. ET while NHL ON TSN takes over at 7 p.m. ET with Toronto @ NY Rangers. TSN has been delivering comprehensive coverage of NHL Trade Deadline Day since 2000. Each year, Canadians overwhelmingly make TRADECENTRE their #1 choice for news and analysis. Last years TRADECENTRE more than doubled the average audience recorded by its closest competitor, while TSN Digital recorded 23.6 million page views across all of its platforms – making it one of the Top 5 busiest days ever in TSN Digital history TRADECENTRE 14 Broadcast TeamHost James Duthie leads TSNs TRADECENTRE 14 team of Hockey Insiders and experts – including former NHL players, coaches, and general managers – through 10 hours of hockey talk. Throughout the day, TRADECENTRE 14 will feature interviews, breaking news and instant analysis of each transaction, while also checking in with SPORTSCENTREs Bureau Reporters on site with each Canadian team to file live reports. The TRADECENTRE 14 broadcast team: Host: James Duthie Trade Breaker Desk: Bob McKenzie, Darren Dreger, Pierre LeBrun, and Gord Miller Instant Analysis Panel: Aaron Ward, Ray Ferraro, and Mike Johnson Deadline Panel: Gino Reda, Martin Biron, plus Jeff ONeill and Jay Feaster The Big Board: Craig Button Post2Post: Jamie McLennan looks at goalies on the market Satellite Contributors: Pierre McGuire in Philadelphia and Darren Pang in New York City TSN The Reporters Panel: Dave Hodgee with Michael Farber, Toronto Suns Steve Simmons, and National Posts Bruce Arthur SPORTSCENTRE Bureau Reporters: Cory Woron, Brent Wallace, Ryan Rishaug, Sara Orlesky, Mark Masters, John Lu, Farhan Lalji, Paul Hollingsworth, Jermain Franklin, and Matthew Scianitti SPORTSCENTRE Updates: Jennifer Hedger RAM has signed on as lead sponsor of TRADECENTRE 14 and the Trade Breaker Desk, helmed by TSNs Hockey Insiders.dddddddddddd. TRADECENTRE 14 on TSN DigitalLaunching just in time for TRADECENTRE 14, the fully customizable TSN Hockey app delivers real-time game updates, news alerts, video highlights, and more from Hockey Canada, NHL, and AHL. Designed and engineered in partnership with the Toronto-based digital studio The Working Group, the TSN Hockey app is available on iOS and will soon be available for Android. The TSN Hockey app and TSN.ca are the ultimate destinations for NHL Trade Deadline Day. In addition to live streaming TRADECENTRE 14, these TSN Digital platforms also feature the following highlights: Trade Tracker – delivering real-time updates on all the trades as they happen. Twitter Tracker – pulling together tweets from TSNs team of Hockey Insiders, experts, and correspondents TSN Big Board – providing stats, cap hits and other key information on players in play Trade Deadline Playbooks – displaying each teams situations in terms of upcoming free agents, players with no-trade clauses, top prospects, and potential plans TSN Fantasy Guru Scott Cullens take on NHL Trade Deadline Days impact from a fantasy perspective In addition, TSNs social media team keeps fans in the loop on TSNs official Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram accounts with real-time content related to the biggest trades. The TRADECENTRE 14 broadcast will also feature fan tweets using the hashtag #TradeCentre within the TradeCentre Twitter Bar. TRADECENTRE 14 on TSN Radio For in-depth local coverage of NHL Trade Deadline Day, fans can listen to TSN Radio stations across the country: TSN Radio 1050 in Toronto, TSN Radio 690 in Montreal, TSN Radio 1290 in Winnipeg, TSN Radio 1200 in Ottawa, TSN Radio 1260 in Edmonton, and TEAM 1040 in Vancouver. Live streaming of TSN Radio is also available on TSN Digital platforms. Each station features coverage focused on the local NHL team in their market and dips in and out of live coverage of TRADECENTRE 14 – with the television broadcast also featuring look-ins from select TSN Radio stations. Cheap Jerseys China NFL Jerseys China NFL Jerseys Wholesale Discount Basketball Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys Authentic Cheap Baseball Jerseys Free Shipping Cheapest College Jerseys Sale Cheap Football Jerseys China Nike NFL Jerseys Canada Wholesale NHL Jerseys From China MLB Jerseys Outlet Canada Wholesale NBA Jerseys Canada Store Cheap Soccer Jerseys China Cheap Authentic Jerseys Canada ' ' '