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The Toronto Raptors will try to take another step back toward the postseason on Wednesday night when they open their season against the Boston Celtics at the Air Canada Centre. cheap world cup jerseys . You can watch the game live on TSN2 at 7pm et/4pm pt. The Raptors finished the 2012-13 season with a 34-48 record, but have plenty of optimism going forward after finishing 18-18 once the team acquired forward Rudy Gay. Gay and fifth-year pro Demar DeRozan led the Raptors to a 6-1 preseason record, which included two victories over the Celtics. The spotlight for the Raptors will be on sophomore player Jonas Valanciunas, who is expected to have a breakout season after several strong performances in the NBAs Summer League. Despite the promise of several young players on the Raptors roster, head coach Dwane Casey knows his game plan will be about more than winning games on talent alone. "We have to be a team that competes, that scraps, that fights," Casey said. "Were not going to out-talent anyone, were not going to just go out and jack up threes over anyone. Weve got to outscrap and outfight anybody we go against. Thats what Ive got written down on a piece of paper in my mind." This game will be the first step for the Raptors in their quest towards making the playoffs for the first time since 2008 and ending the longest playoff drought of the teams 19-year history. MLSE CEO Tim Leiweke said "theyre out to prove something this year" when asked about Canadas lone NBA entry. General Manager Masai Ujiri backed Leiwekes statement, describing the teams identity as being all about "toughness." While the Raptors hope to fight towards the playoffs this season, the Celtics seem to be headed in an opposite direction. The Celtics traded stars Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Jason Terry to the Brooklyn Nets in the offseason, in addition to dealing their head coach, Doc Rivers, to the Los Angeles Clippers. The former powerhouse Celtics are now in the midst of a major roster overhaul and are expected to struggle mightily. The lone all-star who remains with the Celtics, Rajon Rondo, will not play as he continues to rehab a torn ACL. This game will be the first look at the rebuilding Celtics and should feature plenty of playing time for Canadian Kelly Olynyk. Olynyk was taken 13th overall by the Celtics in this years draft and finished third on the team with 72 points in eight preseason games. Wednesday night will mark the opening of the Raptors 19th season in the NBA. Cheap Aston Villa Jerseys . And it showed Thursday night. The Canadiens, playing in their second game in as many days, however, got a good performance in the end from their backup goaltender as he filled in for an injured Olympic gold medallist . Cheap Stuttgart Jerseys . PAUL, Minn.TORONTO -- Josh Leivo scored a hat trick as the Toronto Marlies downed the Lake Erie Monsters 4-1 on Saturday afternoon in American Hockey League action. Brendan Kozun also scored for the Marlies (34-19-4), who lost to Lake Erie the night before. Christopher Gibson improved to 3-1-1 with Toronto, making 21 saves in the win. Colin Smith scored for the Monsters (24-27-6), while Kent Patterson made 34 saves in the loss. With the win, Toronto improves to 4-3-0 against Lake Erie this season and have won six of their last eight games overall. The loss leaves the Monsters with just two wins in six games. The Marlies forward gave Toronto a 3-1 lead at 12:14, on a power play. Leivo took a feed from Spencer Abbott and beat Patterson five-hole for his 15th of the season and second of the night. Leivo completed the hat trick, giving Toronto a 4-1 lead at 19:11 picking up a loose puck at the side of the net and beating Patterson glove-side for his 16th of the season. Saturday was Leivos second career AHL hat trick with his first coming in a 5-2 win over the Utica Comets Jan. 4. Kozun gave Toronto a 2-1 lead, on a power play, at 9:13 of the second grabbing the bounce off the end boards and beating Patterson for his 17th of the season. Smith opened the scoring at 13:04 of the first beating Gibson glove-sidde for his seventh of the season. Cheap Ecuador Soccer Jerseys. Leivo tied it 1-1, on a power play, at 18:38 picking up the rebound off Greg McKeggs shot, which hit the post, and beating Patterson for his 14th of the season. With the two teams playing one another for a third consecutive game, and the second time in as many nights, tempers were high. Both teams combined for 10 fighting majors and 195 minutes in penalties during Friday nights 3-2 Monsters win. Lake Erie and Toronto combined for 132 penalty minutes and nine fighting majors Saturday. The two clubs meet for the eighth and final time on March 19 in Lake Erie. Toronto hosts the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins Sunday to conclude a three-game, three-night stretch. Notes: With David Clarkson (pulled muscle) questionable for Saturday nights game against the Flyers, the Maple Leafs recalled forward Frazer McLaren from the Marlies. The Marlies signed defenceman Bryce Aneloski to a professional try out contract on Friday. Toronto recalled defenceman Dylan Yeo and goaltender Christopher Gibson from Orlando of the ECHL and reassigned goalie Garret Sparks to the Solar Bears Friday. Gibson is 8-9-2 with a .924 save percentage and a 2.55 goals-against average in 20 games with Orlando this season. Marlies captain Trevor Smith was a healthy scratch. cheap jerseys cheap jerseys from china ' ' ' |
