TORONTO - Kyle Lowry laid flat in the centre of the key, hands on his head as he stared straight up at the top of the Air Canada Centre, likely seeing nothing at all, having just missed the biggest shot of his eight-year career. Although, technically it was not a shot. With their season on the line, the ball was in Lowrys hands, deservedly so. The clock showed 6.2 seconds as the Raptors inbounded, trailing by only one in the dying moments of a deciding Game 7. Jason Kidd and his Nets team had little doubt the ball would find Lowry. The star point guard caught the pass, with Deron Williams draped all over him, and went straight toward the rim as Kevin Garnett came over to trap. Lowry split the two defenders and floated a shot up at the basket just as Paul Pierce entered the fray in time to block it. As the buzzer sounded, putting an end to Torontos magical season, Lowry - the teams heart and soul - fell to the court. What was going through his head? "Whats not?" he shot back. DeMar DeRozan was the first one to come over. Crouching over the sprawled out Lowry, DeRozan offered up some words of encouragement. "He said, If anyone is taking that shot, Im living and dying with you taking it and trying to get that shot off," Lowry recounted after the Raptors heartbreaking 104-103 Game 7 loss. "It was one of those things, a brotherly moment." DeRozan helped the point guard up and the Raptors two best players walked off the court - Lowry with his jersey over his face - to a rousing ovation from their appreciative fans. "It was big time," Amir Johnson said of the scene. "Just them showing their appreciation, how well we did this season and how hard we worked. So it was a sad moment but bittersweet, I guess." The Raptors couldnt hide their disappointment after falling just short of advancing to the Conference Semifinals Sunday afternoon, it was written all over their faces, but they have no reason to hang their heads. The sellout ACC crowd stood and chanted in salute of their team, the game - however frustrating - served as a good reminder of why. With five minutes left, the Raptors appeared dead in the water. Frustrated and coming undone in the moment, down 10, their season was on life support but, like hes done so many times before, Dr. Lowry refused to let them die. Lowry scored 13 of his game-high 28 points in the final quarter and the Raptors came storming back. That resiliency has been their most admirable quality all year. They had led the NBA in fourth-quarter scoring differential, earning 11 comeback wins, eight more than the season prior. "Were going to fight until our last breath," said DeRozan after scoring 18 points, playing with the flu, as Casey revealed following the game. "Were going to leave it out there, every single thing we have there on the court." "We battled," added Johnson, who recorded his first playoff double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out early in the fourth quarter. "I would go to war with these guys any day and they showed a lot of pride and a lot of heart tonight. We just ran out of time." Lowry and his unwavering resolve have a lot to do with the teams late-game tenacity and so, with their season in the balance, they had no qualms with letting him decide their fate. "That young man did everything he could to get to the basket," Casey said of Lowry on the final possession. It was what they had drew up, Lowry going to the rim, though it was a slight variation of what was intended, with poor spacing that ultimately led to the blocked shot. "He tried to will his way to get that extra point." One point separated the teams Sunday and after 11 meetings - in the regular season and playoffs - Toronto and Brooklyn each scored 1,070 points. The series was as close as they come. "We were right there," Casey pointed out, and if a few calls from another highly critiqued officiating crew went their way they may have pulled it out. But in the end, the Nets were the better team Sunday and that was the case, more often than not, throughout the series. Joe Johnson - the best player on either side over the seven-game span - proved un-guardable again, scoring half of his 26 points in the fourth quarter, while the Raptors youth and inexperience continued to rear its head. Although Terrence Ross turned in his best game of the series, securing the steal that made Torontos final possession possible, the bar had been set low. Fellow sophomore Jonas Valanciunas scored just three points to go along with five rebounds in one of the quietest outings of his brief career. As a team, the Raptors wanted to go further, they believed they were ready and came just one play short of proving it. Even after the loss, with their season now over, the progress theyve made does not go to waste. Three of their starters had never appeared in a playoff game. Only four players on their roster had ever experienced a Game 7, no one has emerged victorious from one. This experience is invaluable and can only serve them well, both individually and as a collective, going forward. "Im proud of our guys," Casey said. "Nobody gave them a snowballs chance in you know where to be here. They competed all year. This group has a lot of stuff in front of them, a lot of basketball in front of them. The organization is in a great spot." "This playoff run is nothing but positive for these young men and anyone that thinks any different doesnt know basketball." Markus Wheaton Eagles Jersey . 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As he moved in, his attempted shot deflected into the slot where Granlund buried a shot past Craig Anderson. Michael Bennett Jersey . Two-time Olympic bronze medallists Savchenko and Szolkowy received 79.02 points to finish ahead of world bronze medallists Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford of Canada, who had 77.01 points. TORONTO -- The clock was ticking down and the Toronto Raptors were clutching a one-point lead. And Kyle Lowry, the player who has so often carried them down the stretch, was in the locker-room getting treatment for a sore and swollen knee. But with DeMar DeRozan leading the way, the Raptors showed the resiliency that has become part of their makeup this season en route to a 107-103 victory over the Houston Rockets on Wednesday. "Every win is great for us right now for what were trying to do, especially with Kyle out and Amir (Johnson) out," said Raptors coach Dwane Casey. "Hopefully it gives our guys some confidence. . . guys who stepped in, to go where we need to go." Johnson missed all but the first three minutes with an ankle injury. DeRozan poured in 29 points, and was key in the fourth quarter, doling out a couple of assists and uncharacteristically taking a charge. "Those are the winning plays that hes learning to make and hes making now, other than just scoring," Casey said. "Hes doing a great job of scoring but theres so many other things when he plays those kinds of minutes, especially now with Kyle out, hes got to do a lot more." When he somehow cut his finger with just over three minutes to go, he continued to play despite the blood that was smeared across his shorts. "I kind of split the middle of my hand, the webbing of my hand, I didnt even notice," said DeRozan, who estimated he had four or five stitches. "I looked down and my whole hand was soaked." Jonas Valanciunas and Greivis Vasquez added 15 points apiece, and Terrence Ross finished with 14 for the Raptors (43-32). James Harden scored 26 points to top the Rockets (49-25), who were missing Dwight Howard (ankle) for the third consecutive game. Chandler Parsons added 20. Lowry missed the game after a hard knee-on-knee collision with LeBron James in the Raptors 93-83 loss to Miami two nights earlier. His X-rays were negative, so there was no structural damage. Johnson played the first three minutes but headed to the locker-room with a sore right ankle. But despite the absence of not only two of the teams top contributors but arguably its two hardest workers, the Raptors werent going to let this game slip away. With seven games to go, every game is meaningful as the Raptors fight for a favourable opponent in the post-season and homecourt advantage. Vasquez, who started at point guard, said its no surprise that DeRozan and the Raptors stepped up so well in Lowrys absence. "Its not hidden that (DeRozan and Lowry) are our leaders. We go as they go. And everybody else understands that," said Vasquez. "This is why we have a healthy locker-room, were not fighting egos, we know whats going on. Those two guys are going to score, those two guys are going to make winning plays. And whenever one of those guys goes down, weve got their back. Thats what this team is all about. "This is not a fluke. We earn wins, and we earned a win tonight." Houston, which has now dropped seven straight decisions in Toronto, was coming off a 105-96 loss the previous night at Brooklyn, and arrrived in Toronto at 3 a.ddddddddddddm. Wednesday. The Raptors led by as much as 20 points in the third against the fourth-place team in the mighty Western Conference. But they allowed the Rockets to pull within 90-80 heading into the fourth and it was during a stretch in the final 12 minutes that the Raptors really felt the absence of Lowry and Johnson. The Rockets pulled within two points with 8:45 to play but that was as close as the visitors would get, and when a wide-open Ross drained a three-pointer with four minutes to play it brought the crowd to its feet and gave Toronto a six-point lead. There were some tense moments as Houston showed some life late. Jeremy Lin drained a three-pointer to cut Torontos lead to three points with nine seconds left, but a free throw by Vasquez sealed the Raptors victory. "We are a team that is desperate for a win right now," Lin said. "Weve dropped three in a row, definitely not a good feeling. We just have to regroup. The one thing I will say is that Im proud of how hard we played but we didnt play great in terms of execution, in terms of coverage and a lot of those little things." As for Lowrys knee injury, Casey said sitting his starting guard wasnt a matter of getting him rest. Wednesdays game was one the coach really wanted to win, so if Lowry could have played, he would have. "Theres a pride factor, you want to win, you want to win a division, you want to win and try and get home court," Casey said. "Were in position, so theres no use of letting off the pedal now. Every game for me is desperate. "But its not live or die or anything like that, were not going to risk a kids health to try to do that." Lowry is averaging 17.4 points, 7.6 assists and 4.8 rebounds. Johnson, whos averaging 10.8 points and 6.8 boards, has long battled bad ankles, but the hardworking forward normally plays through the pain. The fact he left the game is worrisome. The Raptors are tied with Chicago for third in the Eastern Conference and two-and-a-half games ahead of Brooklyn. The good news is Wednesdays game was the Raptors last against a Western Conference opponent. And of the remaining games, Toronto plays last-place Milwaukee twice, and Philadelphia (second-last) once. The Raptors got off to a sloppy start, falling behind by 12 points midway through the first quarter. Toronto ended the quarter with a 12-2 run capped by a three-pointer by Vasquez and trailed 25-23 heading into the second. DeRozan led the way with 15 points in a second quarter that Toronto finish with a 13-4 run, and when the Raptors all-star drilled a 32-footer at the buzzer it sent Toronto into the dressing room with a 55-50 lead. A pair of free throws by Salmons gave the Raptors a 20-point lead -- their biggest of the game -- with just under four minutes to go in the third. But the Rockets finished with an 18-8 run to make it a 10-point game with a quarter to go. NOTES: The Raptors have another tough game Friday when they host the Indiana Pacers. The Raptors are in Milwaukee on Saturday before returning home to face the Sixers and New York Knicks. . . Toronto FC midfielder Dwayne DeRosario was at the game. White NFL Jerseys Cheap Youth NFL Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys 2020 Stitched NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Autographed Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Discount Jerseys ' ' '
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