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TORONTO - Fresh off one of his most impressive outings of the season, DeMar DeRozan sat by his locker and spoke about carrying his suddenly injury-ridden team while a small piece of gauze soaked up the blood on the hand he used to carry them. Theres some irony there, somewhere. DeRozan needed "four or five" stitches to close a gash in the webbing of his left hand following Wednesdays surprising 107-103 win over the Houston Rockets. "I didnt even notice," he said. It happened late in the fourth quarter as he tried to rip the ball away from Omer Asik. "I looked down and my whole hand was soaked." "It wouldnt stop bleeding. But its cool." Next to Terrence Ross, the Raptors healthiest starter might be the guy with the bloody mitt. They had been fortunate to avoid the injury bug for most of the season but, as they say, when it rains, it pours. Suddenly, its hit them like a monsoon. Missing Kyle Lowry for the first time this season, out with soreness in his left knee, Toronto lost another indispensable cog when Amir Johnson was removed three minutes into Wednesdays game, having tweaked a lingering right ankle ailment. Just a few minutes later the Raptors fell behind by 12 points. With eight games left in their feel-good, Cinderella season the sky was falling, or so we thought. Fact is, this wouldnt be the first time theyve been written off, left for dead. They havent followed the script to this point, so why would they start now? "Guys stepped up," Dwane Casey said. With Patrick Patterson leading the charge in his second game back from an elbow injury, the second unit immediately captured momentum. John Salmons played his best basketball in months while Nando De Colo and Tyler Hansbrough both gave Toronto a lift with their energy off the bench. Greivis Vasquez, starting in place of the injured Lowry, filled in admirably at the point, recording eight assists without committing a turnover in a season-high 40 minutes of action. But no one was quite as impressive as DeRozan. The all-star guard faced all the additional defensive attention you would expect without Lowry in the lineup but after a 12-minute adjustment period he put the team on his shoulders and got to work. "I had to pick up the slack with [Lowry] out," said DeRozan, making just one of his five shots in the first quarter. "I havent really played without Kyle, hes played every game. It was an adjustment for me tonight but I figured it out there after the first quarter." DeRozan scored 15 of his game-high 29 points in the second quarter, connecting on all six of his attempts in the frame, including a 32-foot bank shot to end the half. Rising to the occasion, DeRozan was at his best when his team needed him most; the mark of a true all-star. The Raptors have two players that fit that description. With DeRozan sidelined for a couple games in late February, Lowry led Toronto to a pair of victories, scoring over 30 points in each contest. Now it was his turn to carry the load. "Theyve been doing it the whole year," Vasquez said of the teams star backcourt. "Both [of them]. Its not hidden that theyre our leaders. We go as they go and everybody understands that. This is why we have a healthy locker room. Were not fighting egos. We know whats going on. Those two guys are going to score, those two guys are going to make winning plays for us and weve just got to feed off their energy. Whenever those guys go down weve got their back, thats what this team is all about." Lowry originally sustained the injury colliding with LeBron James in Mondays loss to the Heat. Although there was no structural damage to his knee, it was still swollen on Wednesday and the teams medical staff decided it was best to hold him out, much to the dismay of Lowry, one would imagine. "If it were up to him he would go one leg," Casey joked before the game. "But you dont want to risk his future health for one game." Even in his absence, Lowrys tendencies seemed to rub off on his teammates. DeRozan took a rare charge. Vasquez tried to do the same, though he was called for a blocking foul. "I know he was laughing," Vasquez said of Lowry, who leads the league in drawing charges. "He knows I dont take charges." The good news for the Raptors is that neither Lowrys knee injury or Johnsons bum ankle appears too serious. Both players will benefit from some much-needed rest during Thursdays off day and hope to be ready for Fridays home tilt with the Pacers, Torontos final game against a winning opponent this season. "Weve been very lucky not to have had some major injuries, knock on wood, throughout the year," Casey said. "The little injury bug has hit us a little bit. The schedules not going to stop. Weve got to keep going. Next man up." Casey reaches milestone With the victory, Casey notched his 100th win at the helm of the Raptors, becoming the third coach in team history to reach that plateau, joining Sam Mitchell and Lenny Wilkens. Asked about the accomplishment after the game, the Raptors third-year bench boss shifted the focus to his players, as expected. "All I know is its [win] number 43 for us this year," he said. "Its not about [me]. Its about the team, its about the organization, its about the players that have been here the three years and the process that weve gone through." "To start where we did and kind of build, and were still building, is a tribute to the young guys and the players that have been through here." The stat The Raptors will finish the year with a 16-14 record against Western Conference teams, their first season above .500 versus the West since 1999-00. The quote "Ever since I was in New Orleans I wanted to start my whole career," said Vasquez, who made his second start as a Raptor after doing so in all 18 games with the Kings this season and all 78 he appeared in with New Orleans last year. "But when I came here I really humbled myself and understood that its about winning more than about putting up numbers. I can go out there and play 36 minutes and put up crazy numbers but what about the playoffs? What about making winning plays?" "So Im going to be ready, man. I love this team and Im willing to do whatever it takes." St. Louis Rams Johnny Hekker Youth Home Jersey Eli... Navy Blue . The deal, filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago, calls for the NCAA to toughen return-to-play rules for players who receive head blows and create a $70 million fund to pay for thousands of current and former athletes to undergo testing to determine whether they suffered brain trauma while playing football and other contact sports. St. Louis Rams Lance Kendricks Mens Road Jersey Li... NFL White . His agent told TSN that the deal is "virtually done" and will be official in the next day or two. The news comes with Torontos season opener set for this Saturday on the road against the Seattle Sounders (TSN, 4:30pm et/1:30pm pt). http://www.shopramsusjersey.com/St-louis-rams-rodg...nike290 727 . Louis Cardinals 5-3 on Friday night and tightened the top of the NL Central. The Reds moved within three games of the second-place Cardinals, who have won seven of their last nine games while staying right behind the division-leading Brewers. Mens Home St. Louis Rams T.J. McDonald Jersey Game... Navy Blue . The league announced the decision on its website Saturday, shortly before AC Milan was due to kick off against Genoa at 6 p.m. local time. The 25-year-old Morosini died about an hour earlier after suffering cardiac arrest during his teams Serie B match at Pescara. St. Louis Rams Trumaine Johnson Youth Road Jersey ... NFL White . 1 overall pick likes best about football. "Big hits," he said. "Im all about hitting. I dont care who it is." Thats what the Houston Texans are counting on from the South Carolina defensive end after skipping a chance to take a quarterback -- their top need -- with the top pick Thursday night. NEW YORK -- Olli Jokinens third-period outburst for the Winnipeg Jets put any talk of a New York Rangers goalie controversy to rest. Not that there was much of one to begin with. Jokinen scored the go-ahead and insurance goals against rookie Cam Talbot and pushed the Jets to a 5-2 victory over New York on Monday night. By the time Blake Wheeler put a puck into an empty net in the final minute, Talbot was on the bench mulling his second NHL loss. "I thought I felt all right, still not where I wanted to be," said Talbot, who made 25 saves in his second straight start over Henrik Lundqvist. "Four goals is not going to cut it. I cant expect the guys to go and score five goals for me every night." Up until this one, three was plenty for Talbot to win. He already has two shutouts to his credit and he hadnt allowed more than two goals in his first seven starts -- a Rangers record. Jokinen broke a 2-2 tie with 7:18 left and scored again 5:24 later. The former Rangers forward, who also assisted on Devin Setoguchis tying goal in the second period, gathered the puck after a strange carom and fired it in. "Their guy just kind of rimmed it back behind the net," Talbot said. "I think it hit his skate right behind and ricocheted off and went out front. It actually did hit my stick, but it ended up right back at front. "Thats my fault. Ive got to put it right back to the corner," he added. Jokinen then squeezed his sixth of the season between Talbots pads to make it 4-2 with 1:54 left. Talbot had won six straight starts, including a victory Saturday over Vancouver in his Madison Square Garden debut when he made a career-best 35 saves. John Albert also scored in his NHL debut for Winnipeg, which got 35 saves from Ondrej Pavelec in the fourth-game of its season-high, six-game road trip (3-1). "This was a really great win," Jokinen said. "We played another solid road game. Im very glad to get the two goals and see Albert get his first goal on his first shot. "I was telling him about a guy back home who scored on his first seven shots, so hes got a ways to go," he said. Mats Zuccarello and Ryan Callahan had goals for New York (14-14). Rangers coach Alain Vigneault wouldnt reveal who the goalie would be Thursday at Buffalo. After that, New York will begin a nine-game homestand. The Rangers, 4-3 in their laast seven, havent been more than one over .dddddddddddd500 this season. "Were definitely not getting the traction that I know we want," Vigneault said. "The only way were going to get traction and get better is by playing more consistent hockey. Is this team a .500 hockey club? Were certainly playing like one." After the Jets took a 2-1 lead in the second, Callahan got the Rangers back even with his seventh, scored with 4:10 left in the second. Winnipeg turned the tide in the opening seven minutes of the period when the Jets outshot the Rangers 6-1, and that total didnt include drives by defencemen Dustin Byfuglien and Jacob Trouba, who hit the crossbar and right post, respectively, five minutes apart. The Jets then found the range. Setoguchi took a pass from Jokinen and snapped a shot that sailed between the legs of New York defenceman Michael Del Zotto and past Talbot. Byfuglien then intercepted a pass by Derick Brassard and sent a stretch pass to Albert for a breakaway. Albert moved in on Talbot and wristed a rising drive that nestled into the top left corner at 10:00. "Obviously, he didnt make the same amount of saves that he had done in the past," Vigneault said of Talbot, "but we certainly made his life challenging by how we played in front of him." Albert, recalled by the Jets on Sunday, flashed a wide grin as he received a series of high-fives from teammates as he skated in front of the bench. The puck -- it sat in his dressing room stall -- will go to his parents who live outside of Cleveland. "That was the greatest feeling Ive ever experienced," Albert said. "Especially to score at a key moment of the game the way I did. And to score my first goal at Madison Square Garden was extra special." The Rangers got the jump on the Jets, grabbing a 1-0 lead just 2:49 in on Zuccarellos fourth goal of the season. New York was helped by a blatant turnover by defenceman Keaton Ellerby. The puck came right to defenceman Ryan McDonagh, who fired a slap shot from inside the blue line at the left point that was deflected in by Zuccarello. NOTES: The Rangers fell to 12-3 when McDonagh has a point. ... The Jets won two of three from the Rangers last season. ... Setoguchi, Chris Thorburn and Trouba all had two points for Winnipeg. ... Rangers LW Rick Nash had a three-game goal streak snapped. cheap nfl jerseys cheap jerseys ' ' '
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