TORONTO -- Rudy Gay skipped shootaround Friday morning, choosing to stay in bed in hopes of beating the flu bug.
Duncan Keith Jersey . But by the time the game started, the Toronto Raptors forward felt even worse. And, for three
quarters, it showed as Gay shot a woeful three-for-13 from the field. However,
he had 11 points in the final 12 minutes of play as Toronto used a dominant
fourth quarter to defeat the Washington Wizards 96-88 to remain in first place
in the Atlantic Division. Toronto trailed Washington 70-66 heading into the
final quarter, but Gay hit all three field goal attempts in the fourth and added
five free throws to lead the Raptors to victory. "There was no stopping me. I
was going to play," said Gay. "I was out of breath and the sort of things that
happen when youre sick but I had to push through it for my team. "In the fourth
quarter, I just let it come to me and it got a lot easier." Gays 11-point fourth
quarter gave him 17 for the night, tied for team high with DeMar DeRozan, as
Toronto (6-7) won for the second straight time to stay atop the NBAs Atlantic
Division. "He struggled a little bit early but when it was down the stretch, he
came through for us," head coach Dwane Casey said of Gay, who was booed in the
third quarter by the 18,671 in attendance for his poor shooting performance and
a couple of turnovers. "He was a little weak from the flu but he gutted it out.
"He could have easily mailed it in or checked out but he fought through it and
gave us 17 big points." Toronto scored the first nine points of the fourth
quarter to wrest the lead back from Washington. The Raptors outscored the
Wizards 21-9 over the opening 7:34 of the final period and 30-18 overall. It was
a dramatic turnaround from the third quarter when the Wizards (4-8) outscored
Toronto 32-15, turning a 13-point halftime deficit into a four-point lead going
into the final quarter. Washington point guard John Wall, who had a game-high 37
points, scored 18 in the quarter. "Teams are going to go on runs," said Toronto
forward Tyler Hansbrough, who had eight points and six rebounds off the bench.
"As we continue to grow, we cant have lapses where it carries over and have a
hangover until the fourth quarter. "Weve got to keep on moving and thats what
happened." The Raptors, who shot 47 per cent from the field on the night,
featured a balanced attack, with six players finishing with double figures in
points. Jonas Valanciunas had 11 points and 13 rebounds. "Third quarter, we have
to figure that out sooner or later," said guard Kyle Lowry, who had 12 points,
nine assists and six rebounds on the night. "(But) that group that came in in
the fourth did a great job getting us a 10-point lead. "They (Wizards) made a
run at the end but we closed it out." Toronto returned to Air Canada Centre to
open a four-game homestand -- their longest of the season -- leading the
division for the first time since they won it in 2007. And the Raptors came out
flying, shooting an eye-popping 67 per cent from the field in the first quarter
to take a five-point lead, which they widened to a 13-point edge at halftime. It
appeared the Raptors were on the way to an easy victory before Wall, the first
overall draft pick in the 2010 NBA draft, who signed a five-year, US$80 million
contract extension in July, went off. "You can see why he got paid all that
money," De Rozan said. "Hes definitely a heck of a player. "He has the passion
to win and he showed that in the third quarter to try and bring his team back.
"We had to withstand that as much as we could and get the win." The Raptors
return to action Tuesday hosting Brooklyn before closing out the homestand with
games against Miami and Denver.
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Radio 690 starting at 7:30pm et.WINNIPEG -- The Winnipeg Jets are exploring a
move of their AHL farm team from St. Johns, N.L., to Thunder Bay, Ont., after a
deal was announced to build a new $106-million "event centre" in the Lake
Superior community. But Mark Chipman, chairman of True North Sports and
Entertainment, which owns both the Jets and AHL franchise, suggested Tuesday it
wasnt quite yet a done deal yet. "This is a very preliminary step," he said in a
video statement on the teams website. "Its something that were going to explore.
"Theres a lot of work to be done for it to become a reality." But former
Newfoundland premier Danny Williams, president of the St. Johns IceCaps, told
radio station VOCM in St. Johns on Tuesday he will be looking for another team
to bring to the island. "We will be actively seeking another affiliation and
another franchise," he said while suggesting hed like to see the IceCaps remain
until 2017 if that could be arranged, two years past the end of the current
deal. Williams said it wasnt a surprise but he learned of the latest decision
only the night before. The franchise is owned by True North Sports and
Entertainment, the parent company of the Winnipeg JJets.
Marcus Kruger Jersey. "Weve been informed of this process over the last six months as well so it didnt blindside us,"
Williams said later, adding he was also pleased Chipman was offering to help St.
Johns land another farm team, but one attached to an eastern NHL cub. "The
difference is now that Winnipeg has moved to the Western Conference," he said of
the teams desire to relocate the team. Chipman pointed to travel issues as the
reason to consider the move. "Its just simply geography, nothing more than
that," he said while stressing its not guaranteed to happen. "It remains to be
seen whether this will occur or not. Were hopeful that it will." The team had
regular sellouts in St. Johns, although travel was often difficult for visiting
teams and even for Jets executives who wanted to see how players were
developing, he said. Fans were disappointed at the decision, which could see the
team leave at the end of next season when the current deal runs out. "While I
hope fans continue to support the team on the ice, this is going to kill
merchandise sales and be a big problem for season ticket sales," Rod Zdebiak
said on the teams Facebook page.
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