divisional playoffs to be played in Boston will go on sale Tuesday.

TORONTO - Its been just over two months since Masai Ujiri aggressively
opened trade season in the NBA, pulling off a blockbuster seven-player
deal with Sacramento, but the Raptors general manager opted to employ a
different tactic Thursday afternoon, as the deadline came and went
without much noise. Justin Durant Cowboys Jersey .
"Its weird with the trade deadline," Ujiri said, shortly after 4pm et,
one hour removed from the deadline itself. "We all get caught up in it,
were working the phones and doing all kinds of stuff."
"Nothing really significant got done but its always a tedious time
because youre always trying to see what makes sense for your team, now
and in the future."
It wasnt for a lack of effort - Ujiri and company had contemplated a
number of larger scale trade scenarios - but ultimately the Raptors core
was left untouched, their roster kept intact, apart from a last minute
tinker to the back end of the bench.
"For us in our positions, its always tough to stand pat," the Raptors GM
admitted. "There are things that are tempting and you do the exercise
in your mind, on paper, you try to picture it [but] you dont know until
its actually put in there and they begin to play."
For Ujiri, the evaluation process has been muddled by his teams
unexpected success since the Rudy Gay trade in December and the porous
Eastern Conference in which theyve experienced said success. The result
of that appraisal was somewhat inconclusive. Ujiri is still unsure what
he has in the Easts surprising third seed but their recent play - and
most importantly the chemistry theyve developed - has piqued his
interest enough to buy them more time.
"You pray and you hope for chemistry and I think we found it a little
bit," he stressed. "We said we were going to give these players a
platform and they would dictate where we go and to be fair, I think weve
also tried to live up to our part of the bargain here and they have,
too."
Simply put, the right deal wasnt out there, not one that would satisfy
Ujiris long-term goals while also maintaining what they have in place
now. Ujiri is confident most of the discussion that has taken place over
the last week can be revisited over the summer, if need be. At that
point, he should have a greater idea of whats available but also how
much his own assets are worth. One of those players, soon-to-be free
agent point guard Kyle Lowry, has been the focus of trade speculation
and will headline Ujiris offseason decision-making process.
"Obviously, we didnt do anything with Kyle because we view him highly in
this organization," Ujiri said of Lowry, who is averaging career-bests
in points and assists this year. In Wednesday nights loss to the Bulls,
Lowry knocked down his 129th three-pointer of the campaign, matching his
career-high for threes made in a single season, with 28 games still
left to play.
Ujiri met with Lowrys agent, Andy Miller, on Wednesday, the eve of the
deadline. Overall, the Raptors GM has been content with the
communication on both sides and seemed enthusiastic about Lowrys
progress and his future with the team.
"We set some good [goals] and had good talks with him," said Ujiri. "He
was upfront with us, we were upfront with him in the beginning of the
season and hes living up to his part and I think weve lived up our part,
too. I think thats how you build partnerships. Well see how he grows."
It was a relatively quiet day league-wide. The most notable deal was
leaked by Yahoo Sports shortly after the 3pm et deadline had passed with
Indiana, the Easts best team, shipping often-injured former all-star
Danny Granger to the rebuilding 76ers for a package that included
breakout forward Evan Turner.
The Raptors also made a late, albeit inconsequential move, trading
seldom-used forward Austin Daye to San Antonio in exchange for French
combo guard Nando De Colo.
De Colo - averaging 4.3 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 26 games
for the Spurs this season, his second in the NBA - is due to become a
free agent this summer and doesnt figure to factor into Caseys rotation
as long as his regulars stay healthy.
Daye has appeared in just eight games for Toronto after signing with
Raptors for the league minimum in the offseason. Often at the end of the
bench, or one of Caseys inactives, Daye hasnt logged more than three
minutes in a game since early December, coincidentally against the
Spurs.
"You never know when an opportunity will come," Daye said in
conversation with TSN.ca last month. "I know I can play in this league.
Its just a matter of a numbers game right now."
"Its tough when you feel like theres no hope," he continued, "but you
have to also look at it this way, you may not be playing, then youre
thrown in a trade and then youre needed to play."
With the trade deadline in the rear-view mirror and the uncertainty of
Lowrys immediate future put behind them for the time being, the Raptors
can focus all their attention on the stretch run.
"[The deadline] does weigh on you, it weighs on everybody," Ujiri
admitted. "Theres anxiety, people are wondering whats going to happen.
Its gone, its gone and now everybody plays a little more free and they
kind of figure at least were here for another few months or for the
future. As tough as we all try to be, me included, the trade deadline is
a date, I think, thats significant for everybody."

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Huff left the team in New York over the weekend after struggling at the
plate and in the field. The Giants originally said he had a family
emergency.
Manager Bruce Bochy said on Wednesday that Huff is getting treatment for
anxiety. Bob Lilly Jersey . Today, Craig looks at some trends that emerged from the
quarterfinals.

HBI 1. What went wrong for USA?

In the wake of another failure to reach the semifinals - the fourth time
in seven years for the U.BOSTON -- The Boston Red Sox waited four years
to get back to baseballs post-season. They were more than happy to put
off their playoff celebration one more day.
One game after securing their first playoff appearance since 2009, the
Red Sox clinched the AL East title on Friday night, getting seven strong
innings from Jon Lester to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 6-3.
The victory gave Boston 94 wins, 11 more than the Tampa Bay Rays with
only 10 games remaining.
"Were going back to the playoffs," said designated hitter David Ortiz,
who joined his teammates in revelry on the mound already wearing a ski
mask to protect his eyes from the postgame spray of champagne and beer.
"People have got to believe weve got a good team. Were going to take
this all the way there."
The Red Sox did little to celebrate after assuring themselves of no
worse than a wild-card spot on Thursday. Instead, the team brought out
the cigars on Friday after earning their first division title since 2007
-- a victory that allows them to skip the one-game wild-card playoff
and instead rest for four days after the regular season ends.
"Winning the American League East is something everybody in here should
be proud of," said manager John Farrell, who was brought in to replace
Bobby Valentine after last years team won 69 games. "When we got in the
playoffs last night -- to see there was no response, there was no
celebration. That to me spoke as much volume as anything weve done in
the year. Its a focused group. Its their time tonight to go and enjoy
it."
Lester (15-8) earned his 100th career victory, allowing one run on five
hits and two walks while striking out eight to win for the seventh time
in nine decisions. Toronto pinch-hitter Adam Lind hit a two-run homer
off Junichi Tazawa in the eighth to make it 5-3 before Koji Uehara got
five outs for his 20th save.
With the crowd standing for most of the final inning, Uehara struck out
Brett Lawrie to end the game and the Red Sox poured out of the dugout
and bullpen. On their way to the mound they were given the traditional
commemorative caps, along with T-shirts that said, "We Own The East."
It was a stunning turnaround that came just one year after the Red Sox
completed a 13-month collapse that started in September of 2011, when
they blew a nine-game lead in the wild card and missed the playoffs with
a loss on the final day of the season.
"They believed it from the first day of spring training," owner John
Henry ssaid. Michael Irvin Jersey. "But they went out and did it."
Dustin Pedroia had three hits for the Red Sox, who have won 19 of their
last 25.
Toronto starter Esmil Rogers (5-8) did not make it out of the third
inning, allowing two runs on three hits and five walks and striking out
two while getting only seven outs. With the fourth-place New York
Yankees winning their 81st game earlier Friday, the Blue Jays will be
the only team in the AL East with a losing record.
"Theyve got a great team over there. They really do," Toronto manager
John Gibbons said. "They ran away with a good division. Its not even
close right now."
The Red Sox took the lead early when Pedroia doubled to lead off the
first inning, went to third on a fly ball and scored on a wild pitch.
Boston had runners on first and second with nobody out but Mike Carp
lined out to the shortstop and Ortiz was thrown out at the plate when he
tried to score from second on Jarrod Saltalamacchias single.
Daniel Nava doubled to lead off the third inning and, after
intentionally walking Ortiz, Rogers walked two more to make it 2-0. Chad
Jenkins came in and got Saltalamacchia to hit into an inning-ending
double play.
Toronto loaded the bases with nobody out in the fourth on a walk, an
error by third baseman Will Middlebrooks and a single. But Middlebrooks
fielded Anthony Goses chopper, stepped on third and threw home to get
Kevin Pillar in a rundown for a double play. Lester struck out J.P.
Arencibia to end the inning.
Rajai Davis singled, stole second and third and scored on Lawries single
to make it 2-1 in the fifth. But Neil Wagner gave up four straight
singles to start the seventh, including an RBI single by Ortiz to make
it 3-1.
Jeremy Jeffress came in and got Mike Napoli to ground into a
shortstop-to-home-to-first double play. But Carp hit a line drive to
left-centre that made it 5-1. After Lind made it 5-3, Pedroia added an
RBI single in the eighth.
NOTES: Lester is the 11th pitcher in Red Sox history to record 100
victories, and just the third left-hander. ... Toronto CF Colby Rasmus
was beaned by a warmup throw before the bottom of the first inning. He
was replaced in the lineup by Pillar. Gibbons said he would get a CT
scan. ... Farrell is the seventh manager to lead the Red Sox to the
playoffs in his first year on the job. The last was Terry Francona in
2004. ... The Red Sox announced before the game that tickets for AL
divisional playoffs to be played in Boston will go on sale Tuesday.

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