BOSTON - An anonymous Raptors player stepped into the elevator descending from the third floor following a Saturday afternoon practice at Air Canada Centre and with the mental and physical grind of a long season beginning to weigh on him he let out a long sigh.
[b]Air Max 270 React France[/b] . "I just want the playoffs to start," he said in a moment of refreshing truthfulness. Hes not alone. He cant be. They can see the light at the end of the tunnel, a tunnel that has led to darkness so many times before for the bulk of this Toronto roster. On Wednesday they moved one step closer. "That was a character test for us," Dwane Casey said after his teams bounce-back 99-90 win in Boston. "I think this team has a lot of character. I get upset with them but theyre mine, just like youre kids. They compete hard and they make mistakes but its not from a lack of fight or togetherness." It was their first victory in Beantown since 2008, the last season in which they qualified for the playoffs. Now, theyre on the cusp of returning to the postseason, and theyre in the drivers seat. The Raptors are just one win, or Knicks loss, away from clinching their first postseason berth in six years and can do so as early as Wednesday evening if the Kings defeat New York in Sacramento, a game Kyle Lowry says he wont watch but admits hell have to keep an eye on. "I said that before the game, I said look, we can take care of our business tonight," Lowry told the assembled media after the win. "We cant count on anyone else but we can take care of our part. I aint going to lie; I think tonight everybodys rooting for that Western Conference team over there." Going into the game, the Raptors were in danger of dropping their second straight and five of their last seven, following Tuesdays botched comeback attempt in Cleveland. Even after getting off to a better start - scoring 31 points in the opening 12 minutes after totaling 33 in their last two first quarters - they looked like a team going through the motions at points in the middle of the game, exchanging the lead with a lackluster Celtics club. Then the sense of urgency kicked in. Lowry scored nine of his 23 points in the fourth quarter and the Raptors closed out a win they needed to have. "[Casey] challenged us," Lowry said. "He challenged us big time and I think we responded tonight." With a little help from the Bobcats, who defeated the surging Nets in overtime, the Raptors have a two-game cushion sitting stop the Atlantic Division, also moving into a virtual tie with the Bulls for the Easts third seed. Although theyre anxious, theres still work to be done and each game, regardless of opponent, is increasingly meaningful with playoff seeding at stake and things to shore up over the seasons final three weeks. "We cant afford to look ahead," Casey cautioned. "Weve got to take care of business. Weve got to continue to get better and improve and shape up some areas that we have thats leaking a little bit." Only five of the Raptors 15 players have appeared in a postseason game over the last three years. Only three on the roster have logged time in more than 20 playoff contests. The teams starters have a combined 24 games of playoff experience, all from Lowry and Amir Johnson, who havent been to the dance in five years. "Its tough just because guys havent been there before," Casey told TSN.ca. "Playoff runs are tough. Theres a mental toughness, a physical toughness you have to have. Fight through injuries, little nicks and bangs that we have. You cant feel sorry for yourself because its a marathon. Youve got to be able to do that. This is the first time for some of our guys so its a new frontier for them." Many of them are heading into unchartered waters. Its only natural to fixate on the final destination but theyve come too far to lose focus now. "I think its kind of human nature," said Landry Fields, who started eight playoff games for the Knicks in his first two NBA season. "We see the playoffs and theres a pretty high probability that well get in but at the end of the day you cant really focus on that. These last few games are important, not just for us growing and building and getting momentum for the playoffs but also seeding. Seeding is huge in the playoffs and I think as long as we keep that as a focal point rather than thinking these games are just filler games until we get into the playoffs than theyll become more meaningful for us." "Were going to finish it off strong," echoed DeMar DeRozan, who scored 20 on Wednesday and will be making his playoff debut next month. "Weve worked too hard to just to get complacent with where were at. Weve still got a long ways to go and everybody in this locker room loves the game too much to sit back and say, were going to wait until the playoffs." Big night for the sophomores Both Terrence Ross and Jonas Valanciunas stepped up in Wednesdays win. Ross led Toronto with 24 points, hitting five of his nine attempts from three-point range, while Valanciunas registered his team-leading 20th double-double of the season with 15 points and 14 rebounds. "I thought Jonas had one of his better nights, not only scoring but he rebounded," Casey said. "[Ross] kept us afloat. He knocked down some shots. We needed it." Struggling second unit The Raptors second unit - still without injured forward Patrick Patterson - mustered only seven points, all from Greivis Vasquez, who made just three of his 10 shots. Meanwhile, the Celtics bench scored 51, led by Jared Sullingers 26, 19 of which came in the fourth. "Again, point production from our bench has been an issue," Casey said. "Thats something we have to rectify. Thats just putting too many minutes on our starters." Toronto bench has now been outscored by a total of 129 points in 11 games without Patterson, who was cleared for contact earlier this week. Although theres no timetable for the return of Patterson - out with an elbow injury - the team hopes to have him back later this week. The stat The Raptors snapped an 11-game losing streak in Boston, the fourth time theyve snapped a skid of eight road losses or more against an opponent this season. Earlier this year, Toronto ended a 10-game slide to the Lakers in Los Angeles, also snapping a nine-game skid against the Nuggets in Denver and an eight-game losing streak versus the Bucks in Milwaukee. The quote "We cant worry about those other teams," Lowry said. "We control our own destiny. When you start worrying about other teams is when you lose focus and I think tonight we did a good job of focusing in on our team and not worrying about nothing else."
[b]Air Max 90 Pas Cher Femme Acheter[/b] . Or take a relaxing vacation somewhere warm. Brayden Schenn and Scott Hartnell scored, Ray Emery stopped 32 shots and the Flyers beat the Calgary Flames 2-1 on Saturday for their fourth straight victory.
[b]Vapormax Noir Pas Cher Chinois[/b] .com) - Richard Shermans two interceptions highlighted a dominant defensive effort, as the Seattle Seahawks routed the San Francisco 49ers in a highly anticipated NFC West Thanksgiving clash.ST. LOUIS -- David Backes appears to have found his long-lost scoring touch. The St. Louis centre netted two goals, and the unbeaten Blues beat the slumping New York Rangers 5-3 on Saturday night. The Blues, who havent trailed at all this season, are 4-0 for the first time in franchise history. Derek Roy, Alexander Steen and Vladimir Tarasenko added goals for St. Louis, which has outscored opponents 19-7. Jaroslav Halak made 26 saves to improve to 4-0. Backes, who scored just six goals last season in the lockout-shortened campaign, already has four this season. He didnt notch his fourth last season until the Blues 35th game. "Its clicking right now, but its only four games," he said. "Four good games, but its only getting tougher from here now." Backes, with two multipoint games, has helped kick-start an offence that has recorded 34 shots in each of its last three games. "Were 4-0 and all that means is weve got 78 games to go," Backes said. Ryan Callahan scored twice for the Rangers (1-4), and Brad Richards added his team-leading fourth goal. New York, which has four games left on a season-opening, nine-game trip, has lost three in a row by a combined score of 20-5. St. Louis scored four times on its first 17 shots against backup goalie Martin Biron, who was making his first start of the season. Biron was pulled after the second period in favour of regular netminder Henrik Lundqvist. Biron stopped 13 of 17 shots. Lundqvist allowed one goal on 17 shots. The Blues won their first three games in 1969 and 1993, but had never won four in a row to start a season in their 47-year history. The quick start has impressed St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock, although he wasnt entirely pleased with his clubs effort on Saturday. "Being 4-0 is great, but this was not our game," he said. "Im not complaining. The way we gathered it in was great. But we need to involve more players." Backes put St. Louis ahead 2-1 by beating Biron with a wrrist shot at 5:11 of the second period.
[b]Fausse Air Max 90 Femme Pas Cher[/b]. He pushed the lead to 4-2 later in the frame off a pass from T.J. Oshie. Steen added three assists, giving him a team-leading eight points -- including four goals. "Right now, were working hard and getting some lucky bounces," Steen said. "Weve been trying to do the simple things and feed off one another." The line of Backes, Steen and Oshie has accounted for 18 points in four games. "Its three guys that are willing to do whatever is needed every single night," Backes said. New York tied it 1-1 on Callahans first of the season, but trailed the rest of the way after Backes scored his first of the night. The Rangers goal came during a 5-on-3 power play with 5.8 seconds left in the first period. Callahan closed the gap to 4-3 with a power-play goal at 2:54 of the third. The Rangers, who had lost their previous two games by a 15-2 margin, saw some improvement in their latest defeat. "It was a night-and-day difference from the last two games," Richards said. "But we wanted a better result. Its a very simple game. Its just about getting back to the basics." New York coach Alain Vigneault believes his team is heading in the right direction. The Rangers played their fourth game in six nights. "I thought for two periods we played well," he said. "Our execution was better. You could tell the effort was there, the willingness was there. But the legs were having a tough time." NOTES: St. Louis is 27-6-5 against the Eastern Conference since the start of the 2010-11 season. ... Rangers LW Rick Nash missed his second consecutive game because of a head injury sustained Tuesday on a hit by San Joses Brad Stuart. Stuart was suspended three games by the NHL. ... Lundqvist has beaten every NHL team except St. Louis. ... The Blues allowed their first third-period goal of the season. ... St. Louis is starting the season with five straight home games for the second time in team history. ' ' '
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