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DENVER - Less than a week removed from a 51-point coming out party, Terrence Ross was at it again. Bob Gibson Cardinals Jersey . Ross had 16 points midway through Fridays game in Denver, connecting on six of his seven field goal attempts, none more memorable than his final bucket of the half. The Raptors guard picked off a pass from Kenneth Faried - one of the Nuggets 26 turnovers - and proceeded to go the length of the floor before throwing down one of the more emphatic one-handed dunks youll ever see directly over the defending Manimal. "I remember I had the ball, (Faried) had sprinted all the way down into the paint," Ross recalled. "So I knew he was kind of at a disadvantage and couldnt jump as high. Im coming full speed (and) he still jumped pretty high but at the same time I had enough room to still finish." The Raptors bench said it all. Jonas Valanciunas had to use most of his seven-foot-four wingspan to hold half his teammates from running on the floor. Ross had gotten their attention. "Man, its got to be a nomination for dunk of the year so far, especially on a guy like that," said All-Star DeMar DeRozan, who was returning from a two-game absence with an ankle injury. "That was big. I damn sure wouldnt have done it." Ross was 11-years-old the last time the Raptors had won in Denver. It was December 30, 2003, over a decade ago. Since then Toronto had dropped nine straight in the Mile High City by an average of 17.8 points per loss. The Raptors snapped that skid on Friday. In fact, it was the third time this season that theyve broken a road losing streak of eight or more games to a specific opponent (winning in Milwaukee for the first time in nine visits and snapping a 10-game slide to the Lakers in Los Angeles). They defeated the Nuggets by double digits and tied a franchise mark for most wins in January with 11. You wouldnt know it after the game. "Well take the W but I was disappointed and I let the players know about it," Dwane Casey said following a 100-90 victory over the depleted Nuggets. "I was disappointed in the close." Toronto led by as many as 25 early in the fourth before the visitors went ice cold. They went six minutes without scoring and didnt register a field goal over the final 7:44 of the game. "You cant come in and feel like youve got the game won with a 20-point lead," said the Raptors coach, infuriated after the victory. "Youve got to continue to execute, continue to be strong with the ball, continue to execute defensively if you want to be serious about winning in this league and until you grow up and do that, youre going to end up on the short end more times than not." "We cant be satisfied with the way we played in the fourth quarter." Times have changed and so too have the expectations. The bar has been raised, evident in Caseys post-game rant. "You have to respect that," said DeRozan, who tallied 14 of his 19 points in the third quarter. "Its not acceptable how we finished that game off with the turnovers. We have to learn to keep leads and close out games." Caseys team was excellent through three quarters, and to begin the fourth. When it was all said and done they were fortunate to be facing an undermanned Nuggets squad, missing leading scorer Ty Lawson, along with Nate Robinson and Andre Miller. Without a true point guard in the lineup, the Nuggets turned the ball over more than any Raptors opponent this season, resulting in 29 Toronto points. Still, Denver out-rebounded the Raptors by nine and bested them 50-38 in the paint. "They kicked our behinds in the paint and that was one of our focuses going into the game," Casey said. "We were soft going to the ball, slow reacting to the ball." In the end, the Raptors opened a five-game trip with a win, got off the schneid in Denver and welcomed DeRozan back to the lineup 24 hours after he was named a first-time All-Star. "Well take the win," Casey said. "Were happy with the win but we cant be satisfied. Detroit Tigers Jersey . 2 Ohio State to a 64-35 drubbing of Texas-Pan American on Saturday. Buckeyes sophomore forward Jared Sullinger missed the game with back spasms, but that didnt stop Ohio State (8-0), as Deshaun Thomas dropped 11 points to go with five rebounds, while Scott Shannon and Jordan Sibert contributed seven points apiece. Harold Baines White Sox Jersey . Sotnikova trailed the 2010 Olympic champion by just .28 points after the short program on Wednesday, but had a brilliant free skate on Thursday. She earned a top score of 149.Free agent starter Ervin Santana is close to finding a home for 2014. CBS Sports Jon Heyman is reporting that Santana will sign a one-year deal, likely in the next two days with one of a trio of suitors, with the Toronto Blue Jays believed to be heavily involved. Heyman reports that the Blue Jays and Orioles are the "clear favourites" to land the right-hander, who is believed to be seeking a one-year pact in the neighbourhood of the $14 million qualifying offer he rejected from the Kansas City Royals earlier this off-season. Another team - believed to be the Colorado Rockies - is also in the mix. Santana waited the entire off-season in hopes of landing a multi-year deal but when one failed to emerge, he altered his stance. Earlier this week he changed representation and is believed to now be seeking a one-year deal. He is also reported to prefer signing with a "top hitting team". The Dominican hurlers value has been hampered by rejecting said qualifying offer. As a reesult of that decision, the team that signs Santana will have to offer draft pick compensation to the Royals. Willie McGee Cardinals Jersey. For most teams, that pick would be a first-rounder in this Junes MLB Draft. However, both the Blue Jays and Orioles would avoid said fate. The Blue Jays have two first round picks, but both are protected at ninth and 11th overall, respectively. Should the Jays sign Santana, the cost would be the forfeiture of their 50th overall pick. Baltimore, having already surrendered their 17th overall selection after signing Ubaldo Jimenez and their 55th overall pick by signing Nelson Cruz, would surrender the 91st overall pick were they to sign Santana. Santana posted a 9-10 record and logged 211 innings with the Royals last season and posted the lowest earned-run average (3.24) and second lowest WHIP (1.142) of his nine-year MLB career. He has posted a 105-90 career record averaging 7.1 strikeouts-per-nine innings in 268 total games with the Royals and Los Angeles Angels. cheap nfl jerseys cheap jerseys ' ' ' |
