figure games snapped at 22. | Forum
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Oct 5 '17
ATLANTA - As Dwane Casey summed up his teams latest victory, famed actor and Atlanta-native Chris Tucker, a regular at Hawks games, looked on and waited his turn to enter the Raptors locker room. Walt Aikens Jersey . The Rush Hour star hung around, chatting with players and coaches until it was time for them to get on the bus and head back to Toronto. Hes not the only one that wants a piece of the East-leading Raptors. Theyve become the talk of the NBA. On this date a year ago, they would suffer a narrow defeat at the hands of Brooklyn. It was a night that turned out to be significant, as it was the first in a series of five straight losses, extending into December, that would ultimately force the trade of Rudy Gay. They havent dropped more than two consecutive contests since. Everything they have done over the last 12 months has in some way contributed to the team they have become today, a club that strongly believes they can win on any given night, against any opponent, anyway they have to. The scary part for any team on the other end: they might be right. Our confidence is pretty high, said Lou Williams, who was one of seven Raptors to score in double figures Wednesday as Toronto dropped a season-high 126 points on the Hawks, winning their sixth straight contest and improving to 13-2 on the campaign. Were playing at a high level, were winning games and were playing together. I think were doing a lot of things the right way, were playing good basketball, so the confidence is high. In a match-up of the Easts highest scoring teams, the Raptors came out on top. They were simply too much for Atlanta to handle. With significant offensive contributions coming from everywhere on their roster, top to bottom, they are an impossible team to game plan against. In the first quarter it was DeMar DeRozan, scoring 14 of his game-high 27 points, hitting all five of his shots. In the second, Terrence Ross scored five straight and Williams got cooking, on the way to pouring in 22 against his former club. The third belonged to Kyle Lowry, who had eight of his 14 points - he also recorded a season-best 13 assists on the night, committing just one turnover. Then the fourth quarter awakened Greivis Vasquez. The struggling back-up point guard scored the teams first 12 points of the frame and finished with 21 on just 12 shots in 16 minutes of action. Thats what its all about, thats what its going to take to win, said DeRozan. Not just me. Not just Kyle. Its going to take a collective effort, honestly. Thats what its all about. Everybody in here wants to win. Everybodys ego is put aside. Every time we step out there on the court we feel like we give ourselves a chance to win. Weve got a lot of depth, Williams added. It just shows the quality of a basketball team that we have. Three nights in a row its been somebody different stepping up. It was me with 36 in Cleveland and [Jonas Valanciunas] at home the other night and now Greivis having a breakout game. So it just shows the depth and the character of this team. Asked about the biggest difference between these Raptors and the version that began last season 6-12 with Gay, Casey pointed to role definition. Everyone has bought in, from top to bottom, and is doing just enough to carry their weight without rocking the boat. Its one of those things where guys know who they are, they know the team, they know their role, said Casey, his team improving to 4-1 on the road for the first time in franchise history. Everyone stays in their lane. They know that the ball is going to start with Kyle [and] DeMar, its going to go through our perimeter players, its going to go inside if need be. So everybody understands that, they dont try to do too much offensively and defensively they know exactly what to do. Thats where weve grown. You can put any situation in front of us and we should be able to handle it defensively. Everybody understands their role. Theres a pecking order. Theres not a my turn, your turn type situation. After failing to reach the 20-assist plateau in seven of the first 10 games, theyve exceeded it in five straight while prioritizing ball security in the process. They committed just two turnovers in the second half Wednesday, totaling 11 on the evening. Theyre maximizing their opportunities to score and the offence has never been better. Kyles really conscientious with the ball, DeMar is conscientious with the ball, Casey continued. We have few sets that have multiple long passes, a lot of our passes are short passes. We have a guard-oriented offence. So we try to cut down on [turnovers]. I think a lot of it is just our guards are conscientious, not trying to make crazy passes. Our guys have done a good job of making the simple play, simple pass and not something thats out of the Star Wars book. Despite the record, their effort out of the gate - over the first five games or so - was suspect and raised at least some cause for concern, but this recent stretch has been encouraging. They have defeated quality teams - Memphis, Cleveland, Phoenix and now Atlanta. Theyve won their last nine games by a combined 151 points (16.8 per victory) and theyre doing it in a multitude of ways, with a number of players stepping to the plate. The Raptors are now 13-2 to begin the campaign, showing no sign of slowing down anytime soon. Only four Eastern Conference teams have started a season with a record as good or better in the last 10 years. One made it to the Conference Semis, two advanced to the East Finals, the 2007-08 Celtics won the championship. Its definitley nice, admitted DeRozan. But were not looking at it at all. Were moving on to the next one. Alterraun Verner Jersey .com) - The surprising Calgary Flames host the winless New Jersey Devils at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Friday. Anthony Fasano Jersey .Y. - Peyton Manning made his fifth MVP award a family affair. CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- After a listless first half, the Washington Wizards used a big third quarter run to beat the Charlotte Bobcats Bradley Beal scored 21 points and the Wizards used a 17-0 run in the third quarter to take control of what had been a close game and beat the Bobcats 97-83 on Tuesday night. John Wall helped ignite the decisive run. First he dunked off an alley-oop dunk pass from Booker and then when he grabbed a loose ball as the 24-second shot clock wound down and hit a 3-point shot from 35 feet at the shot-clock buzzer. Of the dunk off the high pass from Booker, Wall said: "We try them in practice sometimes. Hell be thinking hes a point guard sometimes, so I just told him to throw it up and he put it on the money." Marcin Gortat added 18 points for the Wizards, who improved to 15-17, while Wall contributed 17 points, Trevor Booker 12 and Martell Webster 10. Gortat added 12 rebounds and also stopped Al Jefferson, holding Charlottes centre to just six points. "I always feel good playing against Al and its a huge challenge for me also," Gortat said. "Hes a very difficult player to guard and very smart. I remember all the battles back in the West where he played for Utah and I played for Phoenix and we always battled every year for at least four times. I kind of learned to play against him. I know how to play against him and I was really focused." Gerald Henderson scored a season-high 27 points to lead the Bobcats, but questioned his own defensive intensity -- and that of his teammates on both ends of the court -- in the lacklustre defeat for Charlotte, which fell to 15-21 overall and 8-11 at home. Kemba Walker added 19 points and Ramon Sessions was the only other Bobcat to score in double figures with 10. "Coming into the game, it was a game where we really thought we could get back on track," Henderson said. "We beat Sacramento (on the road) in our previous game, but we just didnt come up with the plays. We got down in the third quarter and couldnt come back. "We didnt play with a lot of intensity on either end tonight. We lost track of them in that third quarrter, and we didnt really play with a lot of force offensively, either. Neville Hewitt Jersey. . ... I feel like I could have played a lot better defence on Beal and some of their other perimeter players." The same couldnt be said for the Bobcats, who were coming off a 1-4 road trip. "The toughest game is the first game after a long road trip," Bobcats coach Steve Clifford said. "It comes down to will, mental toughness and how bad you want to win." The Wizards led 43-39 after a listless first half, during which both teams shot just under 43 per cent from the field. Henderson scored 11 of Charlottes first 13 points in the first six minutes of the game, but then proceeded to miss six of his last seven shots in the first half. He was the only player from either team to reach double figures in scoring in the opening half with 15. The Bobcats were particularly inept on offence in the opening half, missing half of their 12 free-throw attempts while failing to register any fast-break or second-chance points. Yet the game remained close, with the Bobcats pulling to within 47-45 on a 3-pointer by Chris Douglas-Roberts with 9:32 left in the third quarter, before the Wizards conjured up their 17-0 run. The Bobcats were down 19, 64-45, before they scored again on a pair of free throws by Anthony Tolliver. From there, the Bobcats furiously attempted to rally. But the closest they could come was to within 88-81 on a 3-point play by Tolliver with 2:14 remaining. Beal immediately answered with a jumper for the Wizards, who then went on to close the game with a 9-2 run. The Wizards held a 46-38 rebounding advantage and a 28-18 edge on points in the paint, led by Gortat. "He took the challenge and came out and played," Wall said of Gortat. "For some reason when we hit the road we find the way to play the best way we need to play and find a way to win these games." Notes: The Wizards have won five in a row against East teams on the road. ... Gortat had his 11th double-double of the season. ... Jefferson had his streak of double-figure games snapped at 22. He had scored a season-high 27 points on Saturday against Sacramento. 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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