Neuigkeiten » e same season since 2004-05. The quote "Weve just

CLEVELAND - As the old saying goes, if you play with fire, youre going to get burned. Dwane Casey, who has used the phrase as a cautionary tale after lethargic starts of the recent past, came just short of saying I told you so Tuesday evening. His team had been getting away with it, far more often than any team should. Yes, theyre a resilient bunch and that was the case again in Cleveland as they clawed back from a 21-point deficit - even taking a brief fourth-quarter lead - but its been masking the underlying issue. Theyre an open-faced sandwich, missing the top bun. "You cant play in this league that way and expect to come back each and every night," Casey said after Torontos 102-100 loss to the Cavaliers. "Its bit us more than weve won, it feels like." "Until we fix that, among us, among ourselves, then its going to be an uphill battle every night." For the second time in three days, the Raptors trailed by nine after the first quarter, allowing another team with a losing record, also missing their best player, to shoot above 52 per cent to open the game. The start was eerily similar to Sundays, at home to Atlanta, lacking effort, focus and purpose on both ends of the floor. Even without injured point guard Kyrie Irving, Cleveland killed the visiting Raptors with speed and precision, exposing a reoccurring hole in their interior defence by darting into the paint at will. The comeback was inevitable. Its what they do. Down by 21 early in the third, Toronto staged a 21-9 run to close out the quarter. Kyle Lowry - running back and forth from the locker room all night, battling an upset stomach - scored half of his team-high 22 points in the frame. Greivis Vasquez would give the Raptors their first lead since the opening minutes, draining a three-pointer midway through the fourth before reality set in. "I think everybodys energy was low from having to come back," Lowry said. From that moment on they hit just one of their final 10 shots and on the last possession, down only two, they failed to even get one off. It was a play they had just run with success. Amir Johnson was looking for Lowry to turn the corner, but he was cut off. Instead, Vasquez took the handoff and, trying to spin right, towards the bucket, he lost his footing. "It was me going to my weak hand and I lost my balance, stepped kind of weird," said Vasquez, who scored 16 points of Torontos bench. "I turned the ball over. Ill take responsibility. Im not going to run away. Im a man." A noble gesture but, as Casey pointed out, its not the reason for the loss. "Thats not the game-decider," the Raptors coach said. "The game was decided the way we approached the first quarter." "Its easy to get up for OKC, its easy to get up for Miami, its easy to get up for Indiana but the teams that are not in the playoff picture, they are playing for something, too," he continued. "Theyre playing for pride, which is probably a little bit more dangerous than guys trying to save minutes and save themselves for the playoffs." Theres a lesson to be learned from this loss and it shouldnt take long to figure out whether or not its been absorbed. The Raptors - now the Easts fourth seed, leapfrogged by the Bulls with Tuesdays defeat - will travel to Boston in the second night of a back-to-back and first game of a home-and-home set with the Celtics, another scrappy team looking to play spoiler. "Weve got to get the mindset of being the hunter instead of the hunted because," Casey added. "Thats how we got where we are, being a desperate team, a hungry team and not believing the press clippings or where we are in the standings." Birthday blues Although Lowry would have preferred to celebrate his 28th birthday with a win, the Raptors point guard recorded his 18th double-double with 10 assists to go along with his 22 points. Lowry extended his career-high streak of 19 or more points to 10 games and also became the first Raptor to score 20-plus in eight straight since Chris Bosh did so in 2010. Amir passes VC on blocks list With his third-quarter swat on Spencer Hawes, Johnson recorded his 416th block as a member of the Raptors, passing Vince Carter for second on the teams all-time block shots list. Johnson, who had 12 points and nine rebounds on Tuesday, still has a ways to go to catch Bosh, topping the franchise list with 600 blocks. Patterson nearing a return Patrick Patterson, who has missed 10 straight games with an ulnar collateral sprain in his right elbow, was reassessed on Monday and is headlong well, the team revealed before Tuesdays game in Cleveland. Although hes been cleared for contact, theres still no timetable for his return to game action. "Its a lot up to the medical staff and when they feel he can go," Casey said. "Its one of those things where if he gets hit in the wrong way it could be trouble for a lot longer so thats why they want to make sure its well enough." The stat The Raptors fell just short of matching their largest comeback of the season. They last overcame a 21-point deficit in their home win over Dallas on Jan. 22. Toronto hasnt had multiple wins in which theyve trailed by 20 or more points in the same season since 2004-05. The quote "Weve just got to understand what were playing for," Vasquez said. "Weve got a big one tomorrow [in Boston]. Its a must-win because were actually playing for something. If you dont get up for that youve got to get your gas up. Weve just got to be motivated, man. This is crunch time. This is important for us. Tomorrows a must-win, no matter what. No excuses." Telvin Smith Jersey . "Thank you for the warm welcome," Beckham said on an 80-degree February morning. In this case, it was soccer weather. The sport moved a step closer to returning to South Florida on Wednesday, when Beckham confirmed he has exercised his option to purchase a Major League Soccer expansion franchise in Miami. Telvin Smith Womens Jersey .The ruling takes effect on Jan. 1 and stems from the debate surrounding Paralympic champion Markus Rehm, an amputee who won the national long jump title competing with a carbon-fiber prosthesis. http://www.authenticjaguarslockroom.com/...n-Elite-Jersey/. -- Rookie Victor Oladipo came off the bench to score 20 points and Glen Davis had 18, leading the Orlando Magic to a 112-98 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night. Jalen Ramsey Jaguars Jersey . Leverkusen said on Friday it signed Schmidt on a two-year contract. He guided Red Bull Salzburg to the Austrian championship this season. Jalen Ramsey Jersey .C. -- With a chance to start over and maybe drive in any series he wanted, Juan Pablo Montoya thought long and hard about what mattered most at this stage of his career.TSN.ca presents its latest weekly power rankings for the 2013-14 Barclays Premier League season. Rankings were weighted evenly between separate lists made by TSN Radio host and soccer analyst Gareth Wheeler as well as TSN.cas soccer editors. 1. Liverpool (Last Week-3) Another exciting performance for the leagues best offensive team saw Liverpool grab a 4-0 victory over Tottenham at Anfield. After a Younes Kaboul second minute own goal, Luis Suarez, Philippe Coutinho and Jordan Henderson did the damage to secure the win. 2. Manchester City (LW-2) David Silva fired Manchester City into the lead but they were not able to capitalize on any further chances and were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw against Arsenal at Emirates Stadium. 3. Chelsea (LW-1) John Terry was the difference, unfortunately it was thanks to the own goal that he scored to give Crystal Palace an advantage they would never surrender in a 1-0 victory over Chelsea. 4. Arsenal (LW-4) Mathieu Flaminis 53rd minute goal allowed Arsenal to earn a home point in a 1-1 draw with Manchester City. They had fallen behind after 18 minutes but worked back into the game. 5. Everton (LW-5) Kevin Mirallas and Steven Naismith added to a David Stockdale own goal to give Everton a 3-1 victory over Fulham. 6. Manchester United (LW-7) Wayne Rooney scored twice, including once from the penalty spot, adding to goals from Juan Mata and Javier Hernandez to lead the Champions from Manchester United to a 4-1 victory over Aston Villa. 7. Tottenham (LW-6) It was a tough day at Anfield for Tottenham, as they slumped to a 4-0 defeat at the hands of Liverpool. They went behind after two minutes thanks to an own goal and never recovered. 8. Southampton (LW-8) Adam Lallana, Rickie Lambert and Jay Rodriguez twice were more than enough to lead Southampton to a 4-0 rout of Newcastle United. The Saints leapfrogged Newcastle with the victory. 9. Stoke City (LW-10) Peter Odemwingies 62nd minute marker was the difference as Stoke earned a 1-0 victory over Hull City at Britannia Stadium. The Potters continue their quest to finish in the top half of the table. 10. Newcastle United (LW-9) Alan Pardew was allowed back in a BPL stadium for the first time since his head butting incident with Hulls David Meyler but it wasnt enough to inspire his Newcastle side as they were buried 4-0 by Southampton.dddddddddddd 11. West Ham United (LW-12) Andy Carroll and Mohamed Diame were both on target as West Ham claimed all three points in a 2-1 victory over Sunderland. 12. Swansea City (LW-14) Jonathan de Guzman fired home twice in eight minutes to help give Swansea City and easy victory over Norwich City 3-0 at Liberty Stadium. 13. Aston Villa (LW-11) Ashley Westwood gave Villa the lead after 13 minutes but they were second best following the goal as they conceded four on their way to a 4-1 defeat at the hands of Manchester United. 14. Hull City (LW-13) David Meyler had the best chance for Hull but they werent able to find an equalizer as they dropped a 1-0 contest to Stoke City on the road. 15. Crystal Palace (LW-17) Upset of the week goes to Crystal Palace who had a huge impact on the title race with their 1-0 victory over Chelsea. John Terry was credited with the own goal that would prove to be the margin of victory for Palace. 16. Norwich City (LW-15) Surrendering two first half goals put the contest out of reach after 38 minutes as Norwich dropped a 3-0 contest to Swansea City. 17. West Bromwich Albion (LW-16) Morgan Amalfitano, Graham Dorrans and Thievy Bifouma all scored for West Brom as they picked up a point against Cardiff City in a game with a wild finish. The Baggies took a stoppage time lead, only to have the Welsh side equalize right at the death. 18. Sunderland (LW-18) Adam Johnsons 66th minute marker was not enough as Sunderland fell to West Ham United 2-1. 19. Cardiff City (LW-20) Mats Daehli scored for Cardiff City, five minutes into second half stoppage time, to rescue a point in a 3-3 draw with West Brom. Cardiff had conceded a go ahead goal that looked like a match winner just one minute earlier. 20. Fulham (LW-19) Fulham hung