Automarkt » ed Carlyle for the Leafs defensive

NEW YORK -- In the final dramatic couple of minutes Sunday night, offensively-gifted DeMar DeRozan turned into a defensive superstar, sent sprawling to the floor when he took two charges. Not to be outdone, hobbling six-foot point guard Kyle Lowry dropped a lovely sky hook over 6-11 giant and future Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett. The final minutes of the Toronto Raptors 87-79 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday could define this young team and their season -- fighting to the end, finding a way to win. "Thats just us, man," DeRozan said. "Were resilient. Were not going to give up until the games over, were going to fight it through. . . We did it on the defensive end to win this game." DeRozan scored 24 points and Lowry added 22 to lift the beaten-up Raptors to their first playoff victory on the road since Game 1 against Philadelphia way back in 2001. After the final whistle, a smiling coach Dwane Casey said it was the most proud hes ever been of his team. "(But) were on a mission, its a marathon," the coach added. "We cant get too excited about a win, cant get too down about a loss. Thats what the playoffs are about." Amir Johnson, playing on the wonky ankle that has plagued him all season, finished with 17 points. Patrick Patterson and Greivis Vasquez finished with nine points apiece off the bench, and Patterson grabbed a team-high nine rebounds. The best-of-seven Eastern Conference playoff series heads to Toronto tied at two wins apiece. Game 5 is Wednesday at Air Canada Centre, while Game 6 will be back at Barclays Center on Friday. The Raptors led by as much as 17 points -- the biggest lead by either team in this series -- in the first half, but struggled through the second and third quarters, running into foul trouble and failing to hit shots. Still, the nailbiter went into the fourth tied at 67-67. From there, the Raptors dug in with one of their best defensive efforts of the season, holding the Nets to just three baskets in the final 12 minutes. And when the final whistle blew, the Raptors fans in attendance at Barclays Center stood and applauded the Toronto players off the floor. "I think were just encouraged," Lowry said. "Were going home 2-2. Were encouraged by that. We got a split, now its a three-game series, now weve got to take care of home. Our confidence is high, were excited." Lowry, who came away from Fridays game with a bad right knee and a busted lip, was noticeably limping at times. "Im OK," Lowry said. "Its something thats controllable, we can do what weve got to do to get through the playoffs, its nothing where I need surgery. Its definitely a pain, but Im not going to worry about it, Im not going to complain about it, Im going to go out there and do my job." Lowry kept his composure despite playing the entire second half with five fouls. "Hes dealing with a lot right now, and he came through with flying colours," Casey said. "Fought through foul trouble, a little bit of adversity throughout the game and still came through." Lowrys teammates heaped praise on their tough-as-nails point guard in the post-game dressing room. "I am not surprised at all that Kyle is limping around," Chuck Hayes said. "Man, he was limping all four quarters. Hes a warrior. Hes everything to this team. The guy gives it his all. We just feed off him." Lowry and DeRozan -- the teams leaders through this remarkable season -- sat side by side at the podium after the game, addressing the media. They talked about the chemistry in this young team. "Were a pretty close-knit team, we understand the situation that were in, its a stepping stone for us," Lowry said. "Were getting our feet wet. This man (DeRozan) is becoming a superstar in front of everybodys eyes. Hes doing it on the defensive end, the offensive end." They both chuckled when Lowry was asked about his late-game hook shot over Garnett that gave Toronto a six-point lead. "I think that was the first time (Ive done that) in a game," Lowry said. "Thats something I work on in the summertime. Kevin Garnett is 6-11, hes a guy who can block shots, and I thought that was a shot I can go to. I took the shot to be aggressive. It looked good. It felt good." There was more laughter when DeRozan was asked if the two charges he took down the stretch marked a career high. "Nah. I dont think so. I hope its not," DeRozan said. "With Kyle (being injured), I knew I had to pick up the offence early, so I did that, just come out aggressive and I knew they were going to change up and start trying to get the ball out of my hands. . . I knew I could do some things on the defensive end and thats what I did." Paul Pierce led the Nets with 22 points, while Mirza Teletovic had 12. Garnett and Deron Williams finished with 10 points apiece. "Theyre a competitive group," Pierce said on the Raptors play down the stretch. "Weve seen that all season long, how well they play, getting 48 wins, how well they play in the fourth quarter, so many comeback wins. We understand that this is a group thats not going to back down, thats not going to give up. They earn a lot of respect around the league." The Nets won Games 1 and 3, while the Raptors took Game 2 in whats been an incredibly even matchup all season between these two teams. Prior to Sunday, Toronto had outscored the Nets 678-677 in their seven meetings. The Raptors had struggled with turnovers all series, but cleaned up their act Sunday, giving up the ball just 12 times. The one negative on the night was Terrence Ross, who was M.I.A. for a fourth straight game. Couple with his struggles, Landry Fields being sidelined with a bad back, and the number of Raptors in early foul trouble, Casey went deep into his bench, utilizing John Salmons, Chuck Hayes and Steve Novak for stretches of the third and fourth quarters. Ross, who dropped 51 points in a game earlier this season, has struggled in his playoff debut, and had another rough night Sunday, finishing with zero points in 16 minutes. Fields, who got dumped on his back during Fridays game, didnt dress. While the Raptors braced a hostile crowd at Barclays Center -- especially after GM Masai Ujiris now famous F-bomb about Brooklyn -- it never really materialized. The crowds on either Friday or Sunday didnt pack the auditory punch of the Air Canada Centre. Fans waved white towels, and there was the odd chant of "Ref you suck!" A group of Nets fans chanted "Raptors suck!" before the singing of O Canada. There were large pockets of red-clad Raptors fans in attendance, and their cheers for Raptors baskets down the stretch almost negated Brooklyns homecourt advantage. Rihanna sat courtside, along with Michael K. Williams and Felicia (Snoop) Pearson -- Omar and Snoop from "The Wire." Williams did the Nets introductions. Russian boxer Ruslan Provodnikov, the current world light welterweight champion, was also in attendance. Meanwhile, back in Toronto on Sunday, thousands of fans jammed Maple Leaf Square to watch the game on the giant screen outside Air Canada Centre. They chanted "We the North!" Two fans participated in a tug-of-war with a Nets T-shirt on stage, eventually ripping it. Amir Johnson led the way with 11 points as the Raptors sprinted out to an 11-point lead just three minutes after tipoff. They continued to build their advantage, and seven straight points by Johnson put Toronto up by 15. They led 35-22 at the end of the first. The Raptors stretched their advantage to 17 points with 5:40 left in the first half. But the Nets went on a 14-2 run to pull within five points. The Raptors headed to the locker-room with a 51-44 lead at halftime. Toronto went a horrible 1-for-16 to open the third quarter, but managed to remain within five points of the Nets, and the game went into the fourth all tied up. Shin-Soo Choo Jersey . - A pitch clock will be used this season during minor league games at Triple-A and Double-A, but it has been ruled out for the major leagues this year. Martin Perez Jersey .com) - Robert Upshaw made a putback jumper to put 17th-ranked Washington ahead with 1:27 remaining in the game and the Huskies held on to beat Eastern Washington 81-77 on Sunday. http://www.cheaptexasrangersjerseys.com/...lo-colon-jersey. The Blue Jackets got goals from Cam Atkinson, Nick Foligno, Boone Jenner and R.J. Umberger and Curtis McElhinney posted his first shutout since 2011 in a 4-0 victory on Friday night. Cheap MLB Jerseys .Y. - Phil Varone was the lone scorer in the shootout as the Rochester Americans edged the Toronto Marlies 3-2 on Sunday in American Hockey League action. Adrian Beltre Jersey . - Ronda Rousey realizes shes finishing up one of the biggest years for any fighter in the young history of mixed martial arts at UFC 168, and the UFCs bantamweight champion intends to go out on top.Things started off quite well for the Toronto Maple Leafs, but their January slide has pushed them out of playoff position. So whats exactly wrong with the Blue and White these days? The team opened 2014 on a high, defeating the Detroit Red Wings 3-2 in a shootout in front of more than 105,000 fans at Michigan Stadium for the NHLs Winter Classic. Since the outdoor win, the Leafs have dropped three straight games and have been outscored 18-5 in those contests. On top of that, the club has just five regulation/overtime victories over their last 31 games and a 4-13 record in the 17 games that ended in regulation. By comparison, the Leafs had 13 regulation/overtime wins in their final 31 games under Ron Wilson. Going into Friday nights game against Washington, theyve gone 2-7-4 in their last 13 road games, are 4-for-43 on the power play and their last road regulation win was Oct. 30 in Calgary. Is it the coaching? Many fans have called for the firing of head coach Randy Carlyle. In his lone full season with the Leafs, he led the team to their first playoff appearance since 2004. But is it possible that his good will with the players has taken a turn south? Many observers have blamed Carlyle for the Leafs defensive system, which has allowed a league-high 36.4 shots on goal per game and league-worst minus-9.2 shot differential. Others argue that the shot totals have been high all year and are nothing new for the Leafs. Their goaltending struggles, however, certainly are. Is the problem in goal? The Leafs relied on the strong play of James Reimer and more specifically Jonathan Bernier to get wins this season, but both have struggled of late. Bernier played 29 gaames with the Leafs this season before getting pulled for the first time on Saturday in a 7-1 loss against the New York Rangers.dddddddddddd He allowed five goals on 32 shots in just under two periods of play. And Bernier struggled again the next time out against the New York Islanders, allowing four goals on 24 shots, three of them that Carlyle said Bernier wanted back. The Leafs lost again, 5-3. The team turned back to Reimer on Thursday night against the Carolina Hurricanes, but he allowed six goals on 36 shots and the team lost its third straight game, 6-1. As TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger noted on TSN Radio 1050 on Friday morning, the Leafs, "played 60 minutes like they were killing a 5-on-3." At the same time, Torontos offence hasnt been anywhere near good enough to make up for the defensive shortfall. The Leafs top two scorers, Phil Kessel and James van Riemsdyk, have just one point between them over the last three games. The losing skid could be attributed to many things, but is it as simple as a Winter Classic hangover? The Leafs played most of December under the watchful eyes of television cameras documenting their lives, on and off the ice, for HBOs 24/7 Winter Classic series. When they won the game and shook their opponents hands at centre ice, the camera crews packed up and life was supposed to return to normal. But since then victories have been hard to come by. And now the Leafs find themselves on the outside looking in for a playoff spot with just under half the season remaining and Olympic break four weeks away. The time has come to ask, whats wrong with the Toronto Maple Leafs? As always, its Your! Call. ' ' '