09-04-2019, 09:03 PM
TORONTO -- It was a game Dwane Casey figures the Toronto Raptors lose two months ago. Kris Bryant Cubs Jersey . Reeling from an 18-3 run by the Brooklyn Nets to start the second half, Toronto was down 10 points against a team looking to win its season-high sixth straight game. But rather than rollover, the Raptors fought back, showed what their head coach called newfound "mental toughness" and coasted to a comfortable 96-80 victory before a sellout crowd of 19,800 at Air Canada Centre. "I think our guys showed mental toughness and won a slug out game which I dont know if we could have won a few months ago, no less last year," Casey said of the Raptors second straight win, which gave them a four-game lead over the Nets atop the NBAs Atlantic Division. "Its a testament to our guys mental growth and mental toughness to win a game like that." After Brooklyn built its biggest lead of the night at 10 points at the midway mark of the third quarter, the Raptors went on a 28-5 run over the next 10:33 to secure their seventh win in their last nine games. After 35 games, the Raptors are 18-17. At this point last season, Toronto was 13-22. "Guys are growing up," Casey said when asked to explain the difference in the Raptors this season from last. "Theyre getting tired of me preaching physicality, dont get knocked down in a street fight." Leading the way for the Raptors was DeMar DeRozan, who poured in a game-high 26 points. Terrence Ross added 14 points for the Raptors while Patrick Patterson had 14 points and 12 rebounds. The Raptors took a 47-42 lead into the halftime break on the strength of 11 first-half points from Ross, who hit half of Torontos six three-pointers in the opening 24 minutes. Toronto, which shot an anaemic 38.6 per cent from the field in the first half, led by as many as 13 points in the second quarter but the Nets continued to fight back. But then the visitors took over the game -- and silenced the boisterous crowd celebrating Drake Night in honour of the hometown rapper and Raptors global ambassador -- before Toronto regained control. After Brooklyns Shaun Livingston hit a six-foot jump shot to restore the Nets 10-point lead with 4:54 to go in the quarter, the Raptors scored 16 of the final 18 points to close it out. DeRozan scored the final seven points of the third quarter, capping it with a 25-foot three-pointer. The Raptors then went on a 10-1 run to open the fourth quarter and put the game away. "We stayed patient. We knew they were going to make a run, especially in the second half," DeRozan said. "We stayed disciplined, understood we had to get stops, rebound the ball and push it. "If Ive got to step up to win, Im going to do as much as I can." In addition to praising the "big time" performance by DeRozan, Casey also lauded the contributions of Patterson and John Salmons -- who came over as part of the trade for Rudy Gay -- to the teams toughness. The Raptors win ended a five-game win streak for Brooklyn (15-22). "Well, it was an important game," said Toronto guard Kyle Lowry, who had 12 points. "Every game we play is important. We cant take any game for granted. "It was really important with them being a divisional team and them playing really well now. We needed to get this win for our confidence." The Raptors close out their three-game homestand against the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday night. Addison Russell Cubs Jersey .Heres Ralph the Dog with the crew here at TSN jumping into the James Duthie TradeCentre selfie: Happy to drop by! RT @TSN_Sports: @tsnjamesduthie: Take this Ellen. Kyle Hendricks Jersey . Johns, N.L., to Thunder Bay, Ont., after a deal was announced to build a new $106-million "event centre" in the Lake Superior community. http://www.cubsauthentic.com/cubs-brando...er-jersey/ . -- The Los Angeles Angels have agreed to a minor league contract with reliever Brandon Lyon that includes an invitation to their big league camp for spring training.PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The Pittsburgh Penguins and captain Sidney Crosby hope that a recent bout with the mumps is a thing of the past.Blake Comeau scored 2:24 into overtime to give the Penguins a 1-0 victory against the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night.Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 29 shots, registering his career-best sixth shutout of the season just hours after the Penguins thought their starting goaltender had the mumps.It wasnt the mumps, Fleury said. Everybody goes through life with a cold here and there. Its no big deal. I felt good.Fleury, who recorded the 34th shutout of his career, was tested after missing Wednesdays practice with an illness, but the results came back negative and he was cleared for Thursdays game.Crosby did have the mumps and the Penguins captain returned Thursday after missing three games. The Penguins, who managed two wins and five of a possible six points without their captain, now have six wins in their last nine games.I think, as a hockey player, you crave that routine and competing, Crosby said. Its much better talking about hockey than that other stuff.Comeaus goal was his 11th of the season. He tapped his third game-winner of the year past goaltender Calvin Pickard after Evgeni Malkin deflected Rob Scuderis shot from the point in front. Malkin has points in six straight games.There are going to be times when goals are tough to come by, Comeau said. (Malkin) did a good job of tipping (the shot), it popped out to me and I was at the right spot at the right time.Pickard stopped 47 shots for the Avalanche, who lost for the sixth time in seven games and have one win in December.He played a really strong game for us and allowed us to be in that game, Avalanche coach Patrick Roy said. Obviously, he was our star player.Both teams were scoreless through two periods and Pickard, a rookie recalled from Lake Erie earlier this month, kept it that way with Pittsburgh pressing for the go-ahead goal. Pickard started the last four games and seven of the last 10 with Semyon Varlamov nursing a groin injury. Joe Maddon Jersey. e got pucks to the crease and we had guys in the crease looking for second-shot opportunities, Penguins coach Mike Johnston said. We scored the last one, but we probably had six or seven opportunities around the net where there was a loose puck in the crease and we just missed.The Penguins spent most of the third in the Colorado zone, registering 19 of the first 24 shots of the period.Crosby returned to practice Wednesday, skating for the first time since his diagnosis. Though Crosby missed a practice last week because of illness, the Penguins believed their captain wasnt at risk for the mumps after he received a booster shot prior to travelling to Russia for the Winter Olympics in February.But the Penguins announced Sunday that Crosby had contracted the mumps — two days after pronounced swelling in his face forced him to sit out last Fridays home game against Calgary.It took a period to get used to the speed, but once youre in the game you start feeling more comfortable, said Crosby, who logged 20:19 of ice time. I might be a little more tired than typically, but thats to be expected. You just kind of monitor it as you go along.Forward Beau Bennett also was diagnosed with mumps, which has affected at least five other NHL teams, while backup goaltender Thomas Greiss and defencemen Robert Bortuzzo and Olli Maatta — both sidelined because of injury —are all being tested.NOTES: Penguins D Christian Ehrhoff left after the first period with an undisclosed injury. Avalanche D Brad Stuart became the 293rd player in league history and 100th defenceman to appear in 1,000 career games.Penguins D Scott Harrington made his NHL debut on Thursday. The Penguins, for the fifth time, wore their third jersey -- a throwback to the black and yellow-gold colour scheme from when they won their first two Stanley Cups.Colorado continues a three-game road trip Saturday at Buffalo, while Pittsburgh hosts Florida. ' ' '