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miaowang123
Jan 5 '18
(SportsNetwork. Ron Santo Jersey .com) - The Toronto Raptors set their sights on a second straight victory with the Oklahoma City Thunder visiting the Air Canada Centre tonight riding a two game streak of their own. The Raptors snapped a two-game losing streak in Wednesdays 107-100 road victory over the New Orleans Pelicans, while the Thunder dispatched the Chicago Bulls on Monday and then bested the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday as part of a three-game road swing. Toronto bested the Thunder in Oklahoma City on Dec. 22 to snap a three-game series losing streak. OKC has won two of its last three in Toronto. DeMar DeRozan poured in a game-high 31 points and Kyle Lowry tallied 23 points, eight rebounds and five assists in Wednesdays win over the Pelicans. Amir Johnson added 17 points and nine boards for the Raptors, who have won three of their last five. Tyler Hansbrough chipped in a game-high 13 rebounds and Greivis Vasquez contributed 14 points. "We understand we needed this game, plus we have a long flight back home that we didnt want to sit on this loss with," DeRozan said. The Raptors will get a boost to their lineup this evening, as centre Jonas Valanciunas will return to the lineup as a starter. Valanciunas, who left Tuesdays loss to the Atlanta Hawks late in the third quarter with a lower back sprain, participated in the shoot around Friday morning and was declared ready to play about an hour before game time. Kevin Durant had 35 points, 11 rebounds and six assists to lead the Thunder over the Cavaliers on Thursday. It was his 33rd consecutive game with 25-plus points, which is the longest run of his career and the longest in the NBA since Michael Jordan strung 40 straight together during the 1986-87 season. "My shot was a little flat and I missed some easy ones," said Durant, who shot 12-for-21 from the field. "I just tried to play as hard as I can on defense and make winning basketball plays." Serge Ibaka supplied 16 points and 11 boards, while Reggie Jackson added 13 points and six assists for the Thunder, who have won four of their last five games. Star Thunder guard Russell Westbrook did not suit up to rest his surgically- repaired knee. Oklahoma City is 1 1/2 behind the San Antonio Spurs for Western Conference supremacy. The Raptors are 2 1/2 games ahead of the Brooklyn Nets for the lead in the Atlantic Division, but they are only a half-game in front of the Bulls for the third seed in the Eastern Conference. Toronto will play two straight north of the border and will host the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday. Melky Cabrera Jersey .com) - Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll knows about life in the NFL from other stints around the league. Carlton Fisk Jersey . 5 Trade Deadline is drawing closer and teams will be deciding on whether to buy or sell while figuring out which players can make the biggest difference and hold the greatest value. CHICAGO -- The Chicago Blackhawks kick-started their league-leading offence by holding on to the puck -- and shutting down New Jersey defensively. Patrick Sharp scored twice and Patrick Kane, Bryan Bickell and Nick Leddy also connected to lead Chicago to a 5-2 win over the Devils on Monday night. Stephen Gionta and Michael Ryder had goals for the Devils, whose season-high four-game point streak (3-0-1) ended. New Jersey was lucky to get those two scores -- off a failed clearing attempt and a close-in turnover -- as Chicago outshot the Devils 37-12, and controlled the puck and the play. "I thought it was one of our better games all year as far as puck possession, directing plays," Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said. "I thought we did everything we were looking to do in the game. I liked their energy, I liked their thought process, our purpose." The Blackhawks spent little time in their zone. With only a couple of exceptions, they moved the puck to their forwards efficiently and left the Devils. Sharp, who recorded his third two-goal game this season, was one of the beneficiaries. "It starts with the defence making great plays in the D-zone," he said. "Weve had great forwards here for a while that want the puck and want to score goals." The 25-year-old Kane has been better offensively this season, his seventh in the NHL. He has points in 12 straight games, matching his career high -- set earlier this season and just before his run. Kane has seven goals and 14 assists in his streak, and at least one point in all but one of his past 25 games, helping him climb into second in the NHL scoring race behind Pittsburghs Sidney Crosby. "If we can play defence like that every night, I think youre going to see more scores like that," he said. Bickells goal was his first since Nov. 10, but he missed 14 of Chicagos 19 games during that span with a knee injury. Chicago rookie Antti Raanta blocked 10 shots in his seventh straight start -- all since Blackhawks top goalie Corey Crawford suffered a lower-body injury on Dec. 8. He faced the fewest shots against Chicago in a game this season. New Jerseys Cory Schneider made 32 saves. "Theyre a relentless team," Schneider said. "They dont give up on the puck and theyre always trying to force turnovers. They didnt take their foot off the gas. "We just didnt play at the level we need to play to compete." The Blackhawks outshot the Devils 12-2 in the first period and led 1-0 after 20 minutes. Sharp opened the scooring at 12:59 when he snapped off a 40-foot shot from the left boards. David Robertson Jersey. . New Jersey defenceman Mark Fayne reached toward the puck with his right glove, but deflected it past Schneider. One of the Devils two shots in the period was a dump-in from their own blue line while killing a penalty. Gionta tied it at 1 at 5:37 of the second on a deflection at the doorstep and the Devils fourth shot on goal. Following a failed Chicago clearing attempt on the left boards, Jon Merrill fired from the top of the slot. The puck struck the skate of Blackhawks defenceman Michael Kostka, then ticked in off Giontas stick. Kane put Chicago back ahead 2-1 just over 2 minutes later when he drove to the net and slammed in a rebound of Leddys shot. Schneider made a glove save on Leddys drive from the slot, but it dropped to the ice and Kane plowed over Devils defenceman Marek Zidlicky to score. Bickell made it 3-1 with 7:33 left in the period, connecting on a rising, screened shot from the right circle after taking a feed from Brandon Saad. Ryder swept in a backhand 59 seconds into the third to cut it 3-2 after he picked off a clearing pass by Chicago defenceman Brent Seabrook. The Devils managed to come back from a two-goal deficit against Washington on Saturday to win in overtime. The Blackhawks didnt let that happen. "Tonight we gave away way too much space and way too much opportunity to move the puck as well," Ryder said. "Were pretty stingy on defence usually, and tonight we got away from that and tonight it shows on the scoreboard." Set up by Marian Hossas stretch pass, Sharp scored his second goal on a breakaway at 5:54 to extend Chicagos lead to 4-2. He took the feed at centre ice, streaked in alone and fired a low shot under Schneiders glove. Leddys power-play goal, on a drive from the top of the circle with 7:01 left, completed the scoring. Sharp narrowly missed a hat trick, firing the puck off the post with 39 seconds left. NOTES: Crawford has resumed skating and is expected to start practicing after Christmas, according to Quenneville. ... Giontas goal was his second in four games after not scoring in his first 20 games this season. ... Devils RW and leading scorer Jaromir Jagr was held without a point for the first time in seven games. ... New Jersey RW Damien Brunner missed his second game with a lower-body injury and C Andrei Loktionov sat out his second with an illness. ... Montreal Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin, who used to work in the Blackhawks front office, attended the game. Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys China NFL Cheap Jerseys ' ' '
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