MINNEAPOLIS - Less than 15 minutes after the final buzzer sounded, Kyle Lowry, originally surprised to learn he had recorded his fifth career triple-double and second of the season, lamented his recent shooting slump. [url=http://www.cheapshoesaustralianike.com/]Cheap Nike Shoes Australia[/url] . &quo

MINNEAPOLIS - Less than 15 minutes after the final buzzer sounded, Kyle Lowry, originally surprised to learn he had recorded his fifth career triple-double and second of the season, lamented his recent shooting slump. Cheap Nike Shoes Australia . "Lately my shot has been off," said Lowry, fresh off a 20-point, 12-rebound, 11-assist performance in the Raptors 111-104 victory over the Timberwolves. "Ive been in a crazy slump for me. Imma find my way out of it." Demanding the best from himself and his team has become the norm for a player that led Toronto in more ways than one on Sunday. Lowry shot just 5-of-13 from the field but it didnt seem to matter much because he did almost everything else. The Raptors point guard knocked down nine of his 10 free throws, netted a couple of steals, found teammates for big shots throughout the evening and helped change the game with his rebounding. As a team, it was their hot shooting that kept the Raptors afloat in the first half, even leading by one at intermission. However, that lead seemed unsustainable at the rate in which Minnesota dominated the trenches. Late in the third quarter, as Lowry wrestled the ball from Nikola Pekovic - a ferocious rebounder with 80 pounds and nearly a foot on the Raptors guard - to give his team another possession, it was clear the momentum had swung. "He did a good job of getting in there, penetrating, finding people," Dwane Casey said of Lowry. "We needed all of his rebounds, especially with the way they crash the boards. He just had an all-around game." After giving up 10 offensive rebounds in the first half - it was the 12th time theyve surrendered at least 10 offensive boards in the last 17 games - the Raptors allowed just six in the seconds half, doubling Minnesotas efforts on the boards, 28-14. Lowry, who had nine rebounds in the final 24 minutes, and his nose for the ball seemed to rub off and inspire his teammates. "Its crazy," DeMar DeRozan said of Lowrys effort. "We all look at one another and realize, what can I do to help him out?" "Just seeing him going there, sometimes he comes out of nowhere and you see him snatch a ball out of a bigs hand, or coming over the top like he has a 42-inch vertical or something. Thats just Kyle, man. Hes hungry for the ball every time the ball goes up." His passion, like his tenacity, has been contagious and his backcourt partner appears to have caught the bug. With just over a minute to go and the shot clock ticking down, up seven, DeRozan took a pass from Lowry. Situated in the left corner, with the Wolves Corey Brewer in his face, he drained the dagger, a three-pointer to put the Raptors up 10. On his way to the Raptors huddle, Minnesota having just called a timeout, a fired-up DeRozan turned to the Wolves bench and shouted a couple of R-rated words that did not sit well with coach Rick Adelman. "They got a little hyped when they made a couple of buckets," said DeRozan, who finished with 25 points. "I kind of got it from Greivis (Vasquez). When he hits a big shot, he always shows off a little bit. Its the competitive level thats in all of us when you hit a big shot." "I like the passion," Casey added. "I think all of our guys are playing with passion, we have to channel it and get it going in the right direction, at the other team. I do like that." It was a rare showing of on-court emotion for the quiet all-star guard but something weve seen a lot more of over the last few weeks. Lowry, who is known for wearing his heart on his sleeve, approves. "When youre an all-star, youre growing up, your true self starts to come out a little bit," he said of his teammate. "Hes a quiet guy but when youre winning and youre a leader, youve got to do it." Listed at a generous 6-feet, Lowry is averaging just under five rebounds per game, good for fourth among NBA point guards, behind only Russell Westbrook, Michael Carter-Williams and Rajon Rondo. Lowry is shooting just 32 per cent from the field, 29 per cent from three-point range - down from 39 per cent on the season - over his last eight games. Its barely affected his overall value to the team and it certainly hasnt hurt the bottom line. Toronto has won six of those eight games and nine of its last 11 contests, surpassing last seasons win total with its 35th victory on Sunday. Without sixth-man Patrick Patterson in the lineup - the Raptors learned he will miss at least 7-10 days with a ligament injury in his right elbow before the game - Steve Novak and Chuck Hayes stepped in and filled that role seamlessly. Hayes strength and on-the-ball defence came in handy against all-star forward Kevin Love - who just missed out on a triple-double, with 26 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists - and Novak knocked down five of his six shots from beyond the arch, contributing 15 points in 19 minutes off the bench. As a team, the Raptors shot 14-of-24 from long distance, with Terrence Ross hitting three of four attempts and DeRozan, as well as Vasquez each drilling a couple threes. The victory was Torontos 18th in its previous 19 meetings with the Wolves, sweeping the season-series for the eighth time in the last 10 years. Now nine games above the .500 mark for the first time this season, the Raptors will travel to Brooklyn to face the Nets - who sit four games back for top spot in the Atlantic Division - in the second night of a back-to-back, for both teams, on Monday. Discount Nike Shoes Australia .com) - Devan Dubnyk stopped all 30 shots fired his way and made several big saves down the stretch for his third shutout of the season as the Minnesota Wild beat the Calgary Flames 1-0 on Tuesday. Discount Nike Shoes Online Australia .9 million deal Thursday. The 25-year McGinn had 19 goals and 19 assists in 79 games last season in helping the Avalanche tie a franchise record with 52 wins. http://www.cheapshoesaustralianike.com/ .J. -- Fabian Johnson scored his first international goal and Clint Dempsey doubled the lead after a defensive lapse as the United States beat Turkey 2-1 Sunday in the second of three World Cup warm-up matches for the Americans before they head to Brazil.DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Its been 21 years since Joe Gibbs Racing celebrated its only Daytona 500 victory. Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth have the team in good position to end the drought. The JGR drivers swept the Daytona 500 qualifying races Thursday night. For Kenseth, it was redemption after a pair of wrecks during Speedweeks. Hamlins victory kept him undefeated on 2014. Hamlin also won last Saturdays exhibition Sprint Unlimited, and he goes into Sundays season-opening Daytona 500 trying to become the first driver in history to sweep Speedweeks. "Once that snowball starts to roll, its hard to stop it, and right now were just on a heck of a run," said Hamlin, who closed last year with a win in the season finale. After going so many years without winning a second Daytona 500, team owner Joe Gibbs wasnt looking ahead. His only win was with Dale Jarrett in 1993. "Weve come with great cars over the years. It shows you what a tough race this is, the 500," he said. "This race is extremely, extremely hard to win. That probably says it the best. That says it the best, over 21 years, thats a bunch." JGR had strong cars last season and seemed to be the team to beat during the race, but came up empty when Kenseths engine failed while leading. Minutes later, teammate Kyle Buschs engine also failed. Toyota is still looking for its first win in the "Great American Race." "The last Daytona was so far away, weve moved well beyond that," said Toyota Racing Development President David Wilson. "Were certainly not sweating the issues we had last year." The qualifying races make for an emotional day as drivers race their way into the Daytona 500, while others are sent home from the biggest event of the NASCAR season. Those left broken-hearted this year were Michael McDowell, Joe Nemechek, Ryan Truex, Eric McClure and Morgan Shepherd, who at 72 was trying to become the oldest driver in the field. Dave Blaney withdrew from the qualifying race after wrecking his only car in Wednesdays practice. But it was euphoria for the small teams of Swan Racing, which got both Cole Whitt and Parker Kligerman in the race a day after both drivers wrecked in practice, and Hillman Racing, which will be in the Daytona 500 with Landon Cassill, who was hit by a car Saturday while riding his bike in Daytona. "Ive been stressed out about this siince July," Cassill said. Nike Clearance Sale Australia. "I think Ive played this race over in my head, what I think it could do, for months now. For a small team, this race kind of makes our whole season, just the prize money alone to start on Sunday gets us through the next six or seven weeks. Its just huge for us." For Swan Racing, getting rookies Whitt and Kligerman into the field erased the nightmare of Wednesday. Whitt wrecked moments into practice, and the team was forced to rebuild his car after Kligermans was totalled when he went airborne. It was the first time Kligerman was ever upside down. Because Swan has only one backup, Kligerman got it, and the team went to work rebuilding Whitts car. Whitt raced his way in, but Kligerman faded in the first race and had to nervously watch the second race unfold to see if he earned a spot in the Daytona 500. "I feel like in a lot of ways, you have the weight of an organization on your shoulders to get these two cars in the race," Kligerman said. "Its a growing organization, an organization that wants to be around for a long time to come." But the second race ended in chaos, making everyone unsure of anything as defending Daytona 500 winner Jimmie Johnson ran out of gas on the final lap to trigger a crash that caused Clint Bowyers car to flip. "I knew he was saving gas coming to the green. Its too bad to tear cars up like that," Bowyer said. "That was one of the wildest flips Ive ever had. I think we would have been just fine if I hadnt hit the grass right here." Johnson was apologetic. "I feel terrible. To tear up that many race cars ... to see (Bowyer) flip ... certainly want to apologize to everyone," he said. "I tried to get up out of the way. So much energy in the pack that I knew I was going to get run over if I ran out because guys warned me about it -- and it did." The first race was uneventful as Kenseth led two times for 31 of the 60 laps. Harvick pulled out on the final lap to make his bid for the victory. Then Kasey Kahne pulled out of line to make it three-wide. After the race, Harvick was informed while sitting in the Fox Sports 1 studio as an analyst for the second race that his Chevrolet, sponsored by Budweiser, had failed post-race inspection for the first Budweiser Duel. "Yeah, well, well, thats no good," Harvick said. ' ' '