|
TORONTO - Dwane Casey was visibly put off when faced with a question regarding his teams recent success and their upcoming stretch of winnable games prior to Mondays contest against the league-worst Milwaukee Bucks. Russell Bodine Jersey . "[People] keep asking that question and its not a legit question because we dont have that right, we havent arrived yet," Casey responded. "Weve got to take each game at a time, each possession at a time and look at it that way." "Thats the message Im sending to [the players]. Weve got to play basketball and be focused and not look at records." League standings are not welcome in the locker room, Casey maintained. If they were, they would show the Raptors in sole possession of third place in the Eastern Conference, just barely ahead of the Hawks, following a decisive 116-94 victory over the seven-win Bucks. Since an early-December trade reversed their trajectory, Casey has kept his team focused. They have defeated the leagues best in wins over the Thunder and Pacers, they have fought hard on the road in Indiana and Miami and, perhaps most importantly, theyve taken care of business against teams that many may have expected them to look past. They havent. "No, you cant [take anyone lightly]," DeMar DeRozan said following a 19-point, seven-rebound, seven-assist performance in his teams 22-point win. "It doesnt matter who we play, its an NBA team. Besides us theres 29 other teams in this league and we prepare for each one of them the same." Casey is getting through to his troops, whether they realize it or not. "He said that [too]?" DeRozan asked with a smile after echoing his coach. "Im just being honest. I tell my guys the same thing, we dont look at who were playing. We understand each game matters more than the last one." Its not just lip service, the Raptors have been practicing what they preach. Apart from a short-lived Bucks run that cut the home teams lead to eight at halftime, the Raptors never took their foot off the gas. Their 38-point first frame matched a season-high for scoring in a quarter and the game was quickly put away early in the third after Toronto adjusted to the Bucks pesky zone defence. "We cant rely on that every night," Casey said of the teams second-half run. "That resolve, it doesnt win too many games against good teams so weve got to make sure we take care of business, and we did." "I think we came out with more effort in the second half and it seemed to work for us," said Kyle Lowry, who scored 11 of his team-high 23 points in the third quarter. Again, Lowry was exceptional, shooting 6-of-8 from the field, 4-of-5 from three-point range and connecting on all seven of his free-throw attempts. The Raptors point guard also recorded four steals and drew his league-leading 23rd charge of the season. "Just another night at the office for Kyle," Casey said. [The] charges are huge. If you go in there hes going to come from nowhere to get a charge so he does a great job of that, reading that, sacrificing his body for it. Hes done everything, defensively, offensively, hes set the tone." The playmaking ability of DeRozan - who registered four or more assists in a career-best sixth straight game - and John Salmons, adding five dimes along with his 10 points off the bench, took pressure off the Raptors point guard, freeing Lowry up on the weak side. As a team, the Raptors tallied 26 assists, shooting 51 per cent from the field and 12-of-23 from beyond the arch. Although Casey doesnt want to hear about it, Torontos next four opponents have losing records. The Raptors have won 10 of its last 11 games against sub-.500 teams and dont appear to be letting up. "Im going to say this again, we dont have any right, yet, to overlook anyone in this league," Casey repeated after his team improved to 19-17, two games above the .500 mark for the first time since March of 2010. "Its a tough league, were still building, were still getting there so I cant allow our guys to have that in their thought process." Jermaine Gresham Bengals Jersey . The All-Star point guard, sidelined for the past six months with a knee injury, was set to return to the Oklahoma City Thunder lineup for Sunday nights home game against the Phoenix Suns, weeks earlier than expected. Dane Sanzenbacher Bengals Jersey . -- Quinn OBrien scored three times in the third period as the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies beat the host Chicoutimi Sagueneens 7-3 on Friday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. CHICAGO -- Players chanted "MVP! MVP!" as they doused Andrew McCutchen in the visitors clubhouse, two decades of futility finally washed away. The last time the Pirates made the playoffs, Barry Bonds was in the middle of the order. The average price of gas was $1.13 a gallon. Yes, it had been that long. The Pirates are going to the playoffs for the first time in 21 years, clinching at least a National League wild card Monday night when they beat the Chicago Cubs 2-1 and the Washington Nationals lost to St. Louis. And they hope thats just the start, not the end. "Were definitely not done," McCutchen said. "Weve got some games left. We still could move farther." Now, they can turn their attention toward bigger goals, the kind that seemed like nothing more than a pipe dream through all those losing seasons. It will be Pittsburghs first trip to the post-season since Bonds, Jim Leyland and Co. won three straight NL East titles from 1990-92. Bonds then left for San Francisco as a free agent, and the small-budget Pirates piled up 20 consecutive losing records -- the longest streak in the four major professional sports. "For me, its not about the last 21 years," Russell Martin said. "For me, it was just about this year, and what we could do this year. They had a good season last year, lost some steam late in September, but I knew that if youre having a good season all the way into September, you know you have a good club." Starling Marte hit a tiebreaking homer in the ninth inning at Wrigley Field, and the Pirates threw out a runner at the plate for the final out. The Pirates sprayed each other with bubbly and beer and sparkling cider in the visitors clubhouse once St. Louis 4-3 win over the Nationals became final. The Cincinnati Reds also clinched at least a wild-card berth, when they beat the New York Mets 3-2 in 10 innings. The Pirates and Reds, both 90-67, trail St. Louis by two games in the NL Central with five to go. Pittsburgh players sang Journeys "Dont Stop Believing." They took pictures and manager Clint Hurdle had them gather for a group photo in the middle of the cramped visitors clubhouse. "The people of Pittsburgh have been waiting a long time," said Neil Walker, who homered. The Pirates snapped a 1-all tie when Marte sent a drive off Kevin Gregg (2-6) with two outs in the ninth into the left field bleachers. In a fitting coincidence, they then preserved the victory on the final out in a play at the plate. McCutchen, the centre fielder, picked up Ryan Sweeneys bloop single after right fielder Marlon Byrd failedd in trying to scoop up the ball and threw to first baseman Justin Morneau, positioned just in front of the pitchers mound. Dane Sanzenbacher Jersey. Morneau caught the throw on one hop and made the relay to catcher Russell Martin, who applied the tag on Nate Schierholtz trying to score from first base. Still on his knees, Martin held the ball over his head in jubilation. Then, he heaved the ball toward deep left field as the Pirates celebrated near the mound, and Jason Grilli grabbed him, having escaped with his 32nd save in 34 chances. "Twenty-one years since we popped champagne in a Pirates clubhouse -- and were acting like its been a long time," Hurdle said. "The hard work, the fun. Im just proud of each and every man in here, the fans they represent, ownership, general manager, president ... the scouts, players. This has been a group effort for a long time." The Pirates last trip to the playoffs ended with Atlantas Sid Bream sliding home with the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 7 of the 1992 NL championship series. The Cubs tied it in the eighth off Mark Melancon (3-2). Martes 12th homer set off loud boos for Gregg (2-6), who was almost released last week after going on a rant to reporters when he thought he had lost the closers job to Pedro Strop. Walker homered against Jeff Samardzija in the first to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead, and Charlie Morton pitched three-hit ball over seven scoreless innings before the Cubs tied it against Melancon. Brian Bogusevic led off the eighth with a single, his second hit, and moved up on a groundout by Darwin Barney. Then, after a wild pitch, he scored the tying run on a single by pinch-hitter Donnie Murphy. That spoiled a terrific start for Morton, who struck out five and walked one. Samardzija was almost as good, allowing one run and five hits over six innings. He struck out seven and walked four after going 0-1 with a 7.11 ERA in his previous four starts. Samardzijas only blemish in this one came when Walker drove a 1-1 pitch out to left-centre with one out in the first. With the long ball, Walker matched a career high of 14 set last season. He has four homers in the past five games. Samardzija settled down after that but got little support as the Cubs lost for the 10th time in 13 games. It was also the second straight day an opponent celebrated at Wrigley Field. Atlanta clinched the NL East on Sunday, and this time, it was the Pirates turn to party. "Thats what we need to do," Samardzija said. "I think were getting there, but we need to get some things ironed out." cheap jerseys ' ' ' |
