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(SportsNetwork. cheap jerseys from china .com) - The Toronto Raptors will look to clinch a playoff spot for the first time since 2008 when they host the Boston Celtics tonight at the Air Canada Centre in the back end of a home and home. After picking up a rare win in Boston, the Toronto Raptors will be back on familiar ground when they host the Celtics Friday from Air Canada Centre. Terrence Ross led the Raptors with 24 points in a 99-90 triumph, while Kyle Lowry continued his recent tear with 23 and nine rebounds. DeMar DeRozan rounded out the 20-point scorers with exactly that many and Jonas Valanciunas ended with 15 points and 14 rebounds for Toronto, which has alternated results in the last six games. The Raptors broke an 11-game losing streak in Boston, last winning there on Jan. 23, 2008. "That was a character test for us," said Toronto head coach Dwane Casey. "I think this team has a lot of character. Situations were not there yet, but again its not from a lack of fight and togetherness." Casey needs three wins to reach 100 victories with the team. The Raptors last posted 40 total wins in a season in 2009-10 (40-42) and the fastest team to reach 40 wins was the 1999-00 squad after 70 games. The current unit needed 71 games to reach the mark. Lowry has scored 19 or more points in each of the last 11 games, averaging 22.5 points in that span. DeRozan is averaging more than 20 points per game against Atlantic Division foes. Toronto leads the division by 2 1/2 games ahead of Brooklyn and is even with Chicago for the third spot in the Eastern Conference. Toronto is 21-14 north of the border this season. Boston has lost two in a row and nine of its last 12 games, and was paced by Jared Sullingers 26 points (19 in fourth quarter) and eight rebounds on Wednesday. "Sully (Sullinger) got hot and I thought even though we were really undersized we played pretty well in that time," said Boston head coach Brad Stevens. Avery Bradley had 16 points, Rajon Rondo chipped in nine and 15 assists and Chris Johnson added 13 points off the bench. The Celtics shot 41 percent from the floor and had a 51-7 advantage from their reserves. The Celtics will try to stop an eight-game road losing streak in Toronto and have an 8-26 mark as the visitor. Their previous road win was Feb. 10 against the Milwaukee Bucks. Celtics forward Jeff Green had six points in 20 minutes on Wednesday and is bothered by a stiff neck. Green hopes to play against the Raptors. Rondo needed stitches to close a cut on his forehead and returned to the game to cover Raptors All-Star DeRozan. "I think it obviously says a lot. He wants to play and not only, I think the most important part about it is he came back in and guarded DeRozan (DeMar)," Celtics coach Brad Stevens said of Rondo. "He went after it and I thought he did a pretty good job on him." Toronto is 2-1 against the Celtics this season, but the latter has prevailed in four of the last seven meetings between the teams. Boston has lost two straight, four of five and five of its last seven trips to Canada. jerseys nfl cheap china . - Alex Gordon went from a bust to busting the bank. jerseys nfl cheap wholesale . A few changes have been made this year, as RDS will no longer be producing it. Instead, the Canadiens have hired their own team of creative masterminds to produce the reality series.HARRISON, N.J. -- With replacement referees handling the games, there was bound to be some controversy in Major League Soccer this season. It happened in Week 2. Vicente Sanchez scored on a penalty kick in the 72rd minute after a questionable decision by the substitute referee and the Colorado Rapids and new coach Pablo Mastroeni opened their season with a 1-1 tie with the New York Red Bulls on Saturday. Substitute referee Alan Kelly awarded the penalty kick after defender Jamison Olave used his chest to knock a much smaller Marvin Chavez to the grass as he took a pass from Sanchez. "If its against you its a tough call," Mastroeni said. "If its for you, you are OK with it. I think referees are out of our control." The substitute referees are working the games because the Professional Referee Organization, which manages on-field officials for Major League Soccer, has locked out officials from the Professional Soccer Referees Association. The two sides have failed to reach agreement on a contract after the officials formed a union last year. Kelly told a pool reporter that Olave challenged Chavez from behind and initiated the contact, a decision that brought boos from the crowd of 20,542 at Red Bull Arena who earlier had thought that Thierry Henrys 57th-minute goal would be the winner. "I dont mean to be blunt, but in terms of the questions thats the straight forward answers I can give," Kelly said. Red Bulls coach Mike Petke didnt like the decision but he wasnt going to draw a fine from the league by criticizing it. "Listen, its the game," Petke said. "I mean what am I going to say about the penalty kick? Perhaps if the guy was Olaves size he would not have gone down like that. I dont know? Olave looked to step up and stand his ground and keep him in front of him and got him. The referee made a decision. Its unfortunate for us, fortunate for Colorado. You get away from it, move on from it." The 6-foot-3 and 210-pound Olave, who seemed shocked by the call, left the locker room and was not available for comment. wholesale jerseys. Sanchez deposited the kick from the spot into the right corner of the net. Red Bulls keeper Luis Robles did not have a chance to stop it. "I spoke to the ref afterward and he said, He was too physical coming from behind him," Robles said. "I have to respect that." The Red Bulls, the defending Supporters Shield trophy winners, were trying to bounce back from a dismal season-opening performance in 4-1 loss at Vancouver last weekend. Henry, who did not play in the season opener because it was on an artificial surface, headed a brilliant crossing pass by Lloyd Sam under rookie goalkeeper John Berner. It was his 42nd goal for the Red Bulls, second on the career list behind Juan Pablo Angel (58). "There is no panic," Henry said about the slow start. "We have to go back to the film this week and do better because it obviously was not enough to win the game today." He had no comment on the referees decision. New York had two chances to win in the five minutes of injury time. Eric Alexander was wide with a shot in the box and Berner, who played last season at Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, made a diving save on another header by Henry. "To say I wasnt on the edge of my seat of out, if not out of it, would be an understatement," said Mastroeni, who played 11-plus seasons with the Rapids and returned after last season with several club records, including most games played. "Thats the beauty of the game. It can all come down to the last minute, the last second, thats why its exciting." Robles had kept the Red Bulls in the game in the first half, making five saves, including a finger-tip stop on a 35-yard shot by Nick LaBrocca that caught the goalkeeper a little too far off his line. Mastroeni was named the Rapids head coach last week, replacing Oscar Pareja, who left in January to take the same job with his former club, FC Dallas. Mastroeni was in charge of the squad through the preseason. wholesale jerseys ' ' ' |
