10, 12 hours afterwards the body starts to stiffe

TORONTO -- DeMar DeRozan is showing no signs of slowing down.The Toronto Raptors star has surged to the top of the NBA scoring charts, averaging 35.8 points after dropping 34 on the Miami Heat in a 96-87 victory Friday night.It was his fifth straight game with at least 30 points for DeRozan, passing Mike James for the longest such streak in franchise history and the best such start to a season since Michael Jordan did it for six straight games to open the 1986-87 season.DeRozan was not about to dwell on his place alongside such distinguished company.Yeah, I heard, he said. I dont believe it.What he could believe was the four turnovers he had in the first quarter, part of the six the team committed as it fell behind by 12 points at one point.DeRozan admitted he was passing too much at that point, something that he quickly adjusted in helping his team rally back from a double-digit deficit for the second straight game.A couple shots I passed up, he said. . (Coach Dwane Casey) just said to me to go out and shoot it.Torontos win was helped greatly by the play of its reserves, which combined for a season-high 36 points as the Raptors beat the Heat for the fourth straight time in the regular season.This was the first meeting between the teams since Toronto beat Miami in the Eastern Conference semifinals last season.Terrence Ross had 20 points off the bench, and his play epitomized Torontos comeback.We always go 15 deep and we really have a full team, said Kyle Lowry, who had 13 points. One day its one guys time and the next day it might be another guys.The Heat looked to be back in the game after reducing a 16-point deficit to just three over the last 4 minutes of the third quarter. But Toronto opened the final quarter with a 7-0 run and Miami never got closer than five points the rest of the way.That third quarter was good for us but in the fourth we were not focused enough, we made too many mistakes offensively and defensively and they took advantage of that, said Goren Dragic, who had 17 points. Center Hassan Whiteside led the Heat with 21 points and 16 rebounds.The Raptors held the Heat to 38.6 percent shooting from the field in the game, the fourth game out of five that Toronto has held its opponent below 42 percent.Miami was unable to say the same, particularly about DeRozan, who went 14 of 26 from the field.We tried to give him different looks, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. We really wanted to try and take it out of his hands a couple of times but we werent able to do it. Hes a heck of a player.TIP-INSHeat: G Wayne Ellington (quadriceps) missed his fifth straight game to open the season. ... Whiteside recorded his fifth straight double-double, a franchise record streak to open the season. Rony Seikaly had four straight to open the season in 1990-91 and 1991-92. ... Whiteside registered a block for the 34th straight game, extending his career-long streak and putting him just one behind Alonzo Mourning for the third-longest streak in team history, set in 2006-07.Raptors: DeRozan broke a tie with former teammate Jose Calderon for the second-most games played in franchise history, playing his 525th game in a Raptors uniform. ... Raptors 905, Torontos NBA Development League affiliate, announced three additions to head coach Jerry Stackhouses staff on Friday night. Former Tennessee coach Donnie Tyndall will serve as an assistant coach; Nicki Gross, the only female coach in the D-League, was appointed player development coach; and John Corbacio was promoted to video-coordinator/player development coach.FINDING MOTIVATIONWhile DeRozan was discussing his latest 30-point game with reporters, center Jonas Valanciunas chimed in. Still 46th, man, he said jokingly in reference to Sports Illustrated ranking DeRozan as the 46th best player in the NBA in its preseason issue. But No. 1 in our hearts.THE CENTURIONFormer Raptor James Johnson made the most of his return to the city he has called home twice in his NBA career by registering his 100th career 3-point field goal with 1:58 to play in the third quarter. He finished with 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting and two assists, the first of which was the 600th of his career.BACK IN BUSINESSAfter partially tearing the MCL in his right knee eight weeks ago, Heat guard Josh Richardson made his season debut with 3:50 remaining in the first quarter. He had no points on 0-for-4 shooting in 11:36 minutes.UP NEXTHeat: Continue their two-game swing in Oklahoma City, where Miami has lost two straight.Raptors: Host Sacramento as the Kings wrap up a five-game trip in Toronto, where they have an all-time record of 8-12. Wholesale Air Jordan From China . -- Devin Hester is done returning kicks in Chicago. Cheap Real Jordans . -- About a third of the way through the regular season, the Washington Wizards are at . http://www.cheapairjordanfastshipping.com/ . -- Canadian Andrew Wiggins got the ball on the wing, made a nifty spin move and then let go with a soft floater from about 10 feet that swished through the net in Allen Fieldhouse. Cheap Jordans Shoes For Sale . -- Mike Smith never saw his first NHL goal go in. Cheap Air Jordan Retro . -- Adam Snyder returned to the San Francisco 49ers this season because the offensive lineman thought it was his best opportunity to win a championship. LONDON -- It was a foreboding touch to hear a gong-type noise played on U.K. television coverage as Andy Murray failed to save a fifth set point against Kei Nishikori in an epic 18-minute first-set tiebreaker on Wednesday.A similar booming sound played over Arthur Ashe Stadiums loudspeakers in Septembers US Open. After the mysterious noise, Murray melted down in a five-set quarterfinal defeat to Nishikori. But this time, Murray just about regrouped at the World Tour Finals to beat the world No. 5 6-7 (9), 6-4, 6-4.He still flirted with disaster here. Several times he got wound up into a similar state of agitation as he had in that fourth set at Flushing Meadows; he was distracted throughout, remonstrating with himself and shouting at his box.I didnt feel like I was hitting the ball as well as I would have liked, Murray later told a news conference. He was dictating so many of the points. For me it was frustrating. Didnt matter whether I tried to hit the ball a bit harder, adjusted my position on the court, nothing was making me hit the ball cleaner.As the match went on, I was getting kind of frustrated, then becoming like sarcastic with myself that I couldnt seem to hit the ball as clean as I wanted to. Yeah, I dont often do that, but today I was definitely being more sarcastic towards myself than usual.His frustrations almost cost him dearly when he failed to take two set points at 5-4 in the second set, having already been broken back once. He then needed four games to finally put away Nishikori, after building a 5-1 lead in the decider.No doubt about it, this was a step up in class for the Scot -- not since his French Open final defeat to Novak Djokovic in June had he faced a top-five opponent.There was nothing really in it, Murray admitted. He could have won in two sets, for sure. He was dictating many points. He had a number of chances.Murrays place in the semifinals is far from guaranteed, though, after Stan Wawrinka?rebounded from an opening loss to beat Marin Cilic 7-6 (3), 7-6 (3) in Wednesdays evening session at Londons O2 Arena.If Wawrinka beats Murray in two sets, and Nishikori wins against Cilic, then Murray will be out of the tournament and Djokovic will finish as year-end No. 1. But if Cilic gets his first win here, Murray and Wawrinka will both qualify for the semifinals regardless.All I know is if I want to have a chance to qualify, I need to win, said Wawrinka. Thats all I know. Thats all Im trying to do.ddddddddddddIm going to try to play my best tennis, to beat the world No. 1. Its going to be a tough match. We played many times each other. Hes playing his best tennis so far. Its going to be interesting. Im happy to play here in front of his home crowd. Im sure its going to be a great atmosphere.One man who definitely wont be here at the weekend is Gael Monfils, who withdrew from the Tour Finals with a rib injury that he first picked up in Stockholm last month. The Frenchman had lost his opening two matches to Milos Raonic and Dominic Thiem -- Djokovic will now play alternate David Goffin in his final round robin match Thursday.Definitely I cant play for tomorrow because I still feel worse and worse, my ribs, that I had lately, Monfils told a news conference. Yeah, I feel that even yesterday was tough in the game. I feel unfortunately today I couldnt be feeling great and couldnt practice, so I just decide that I couldnt play tomorrow.Monfils announcement pushed Murrays own news conference even further back -- the Scot had already been scheduled to come in to press two hours after his match against Nishikori finished.I was in the ice bath after the match, he said when he finally turned up. That obviously helps kind of make you feel a bit better. But, yeah, sort of 10, 12 hours afterwards the body starts to stiffen up. Im sure tomorrow Ill be a bit sore. But its positive I get a days rest, a days recovery tomorrow.He will need the rest -- this was officially the longest three-set match in Tour Finals history at 3 hours, 20 minutes.Not quite as long as the near five-hour epic between Murray and Nishikori that went five sets in the Davis Cup in March, nor the three hours, 57 minutes they played in New York, but still draining.While it wasnt a vintage performance, Murray found a way to get the job done, stretching his win streak to 21 matches, one short of his career-best set earlier this summer.For now, he is quickly learning that it is one thing to get to the top of the rankings, and another thing to stay there. He must match or outdo Novak Djokovics results here to finish year-end No. 1, and it could come down to a straight shootout in Sundays final.I think for the tournament and for everyone interested in tennis that would probably be the perfect way to finish the year, admitted Murray. ' ' '