CHARLOTTE - Jonas Valanciunas took a quick glance at the stat sheet, no longer banned post-game, crumpled it up into a ball and hurled it across the locker
room.
Moncler Womens Jackets Sale . At the bottom of the page the final score read "100-95" - Torontos third loss in four games -
but it was how they got there that had the Raptors young centre shaking his head
as he destroyed the evidence. In the less literal sense he wasnt alone. The
Raptors locker room was filled with distraught players drowning their sorrows in
a sea of chicken fingers and mac and cheese at the post-game buffet, eager to
forget about their most recent setback. "We cant really panic, but weve got to
hold each other accountable," said Greivis Vasquez, moments after his team
failed to close out what would have been a historic comeback in eventual defeat
to a familiar, albeit perplexing foe, the Charlotte Bobcats. "Its easy when we
win and you smile and youre cool, youre hanging around, but when you face
adversity or obstacles, thats when you really show your character, so now weve
really got to show what [were] made of." For Vasquez - who helped engineer
Torontos late-game run - his teammates and his coach, there were no moral
victories to be celebrated after cutting a 30-point third quarter deficit to one
with 26 seconds remaining. No moral victories, not anymore, not if they fancy
themselves a playoff contender. Instead the question was, how could they fall
behind by 30 to the Bobcats - who had lost 10 of 13 and were playing without
Kemba Walker - in the first place? "Effort," Kyle Lowry said, and repeated six
times in a three-minute scrum. For the final 16 minutes they played with plenty
of it, outscoring the nemesis Bobcats 54-29 to close out the game. For the first
32 it was nowhere to be found. "Thats it, effort," the Raptors point guard
continued. "That simple. Effort." Its not that simple, not for the teams fans or
coaching staff that were left to wonder where that effort went for two and a
half quarters in a game the Raptors sorely needed. "Its a long season but you
tell a lot about who you are in these situations," Dwane Casey said. "Today was
a gut-check game and the fourth quarter we turned it around but its about what
we did in the first three quarters thats disappointing." Coming off a loss to
the corpse of the Los Angeles Lakers 24 hours earlier, and an equally
disheartening defeat in Boston last week, the Raptors scored a season-low 11
points in the first quarter. For the second straight day they attempted nearly
three times as many three-pointers as free throws and allowed the leagues 28th
ranked offensive team to score 100 points on 49 per cent shooting. The loss was
their seventh straight in Charlotte to a Bobcats team that has been varying
degrees of terrible throughout that span of Raptors futility. "Weve got to take
these two losses to heart," said Vasquez who had 15 points, nine assists and
seven rebounds, his best line as Raptor. "Were professionals, we know what were
playing for, so, [theres] no excuses on this team. Some guys just got to step up
and understand what were playing for." "I think were fine," he continued. "Weve
just got to wake up and understand that one loss cant really take us down, but
one win can really build some good momentum." Veteran bruiser Chuck Hayes put it
best. "Its an emotional roller coaster in this league." A week ago they were
riding high, winners of three straight and eight of 10, since then theyve
crashed back down to earth. Where do they truly stand in the grand scheme of
things? Likely somewhere in the middle. Success in the league is fickle, as
Casey knows and Hayes has learned in his years of service. "After the momentum
we had in December you would kind of hope it would shift over into the New Year
but the New Year aint been so good to us so far," said Hayes, who recorded his
first double-double - 12 points and 13 rebounds - since Apr. 11, 2011. "But
theres a lot of basketball left." Hayes, along with fellow reserves Vasquez and
Patrick Patterson, played the bulk of the fourth quarter in place of frontcourt
tandem Valanciunas and Amir Johnson, who each played less than 19 minutes, and
Terrence Ross, who logged 21. For the fourth straight game Valanciunas failed to
eclipse 23 minutes or score in double figures, shooting 6-for-21 over that
stretch. On Monday he was overwhelmed in a daunting matchup with crafty,
low-post shaman Al Jefferson. The Raptors sophomore bit on Jeffersons pump
fakes, got beat on the boards and most alarmingly let his frustration get the
better of him. Jefferson, who had a double-double after the first quarter,
finished with 22 points and 19 boards. Fellow sophomore Ross has also seen his
performance slip over the teams recent slide, recording just one point on
Monday, shooting 0-for-6. Meanwhile, Johnson connected on just one of his four
attempts and has exceeded 10 rebounds in one of his last 15 contests. "Weve got
to find a start that fits us," said Casey, who wouldnt rule out an eventual
lineup change but insisted its too early to make that call. "You cant spot any
team in this league 25-30 points and expect to be successful." The Raptors will
be given a much-needed day of reflection before hosting the Mavericks on
Wednesday. It will be the first time theyve faced a winning team in seven games.
After squandering three golden opportunities in six days, it could be the wakeup
call they need. "Weve got another game," said Hayes. "This is not it, [its] just
a little adversity and weve got to find a way to respond."
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Cheap Moncler Jackets Sale . PETERSBURG, Fla.ERIE, Pa. -- Dane Fox had two goals and three assists as the league-leading Erie Otters beat the Kitchener Rangers
9-6 in Ontario Hockey League action Tuesday. Fox now has 43 points (23 goals, 20
assists) in 23 games, and is three points behind teammate Connor Brown (19
goals, 27 assists) for the OHL scoring lead. Brown and Spencer Abraham each had
a goal and two assists for the Otters (19-3-1), while Connor McDavid, Michael
Curtis, Stephen Harper, Kyle Pettit and Andre Burakovsky also scored. Justin
Bailey had a goal and two assists for Kitchener (7-13-1). Darby Llewellyn, Brent
Pedersen, Ryan MacInnis, Radek Faska and Ben Thomson also scored. Oscar Dansk
allowed five goals on 23 shots before giving way to Devin Williams with 12:34
left to play. Williams stopped just one of the two shots he faced, but it was
enough to pick up the win. Matthew Greenfield allowed five goals in 13 shots
before being replaced 7:21 into the second period. Jordan DeKort stopped seven
of 10 shots in relief. Erie was 2 for 3 on the power play. Kitchener scored on
one of five chances. --- Storm 9 Steelheads 3 MISSISSAUGA, Ont. -- Brock McGinn
and Jason Dickinson each had two goals and three assists as Guelph thumped the
Steelheads. Justin Auger had a hat trick for the Storm (17-3-3), whille Tyler
Bertuzzi and Pius Suter also scored.
Cheap Moncler Womens Coats. Matthew Mancina made 20 saves. Bryson Cianfrone, Josh Burnside and Jesse Barwell scored for
Mississauga (12-11-2), while Spencer Martin and Dawson Carty combined to stop 29
shots. --- 67s 9 Bulls 4 OTTAWA -- Brendan Bell scored three goals as the 67s
routed Belleville. Nevin Guy and Dante Salituro each had a goal and four
assists, Brett Gustavsen had a goal and three assists and Tyler Hill scored
twice for Ottawa (18-5-1). Ryan Van Stralen also scored and Philippe Trudeau
stopped 34 shots. Garrett Hooey scored twice for the Bulls (5-14-4), while Niki
Petti and Jordan Subban added goals. Charlie Graham and Jason Da Silva combined
for 31 saves. --- Petes 3 Colts 2 (OT) PETERBOROUGH, Ont. -- Michael Clarke
opened and closed for the scoring as the Petes edged Barrie. Clarke got the
winner with his seventh goal of the season 1:20 into overtime. Greg Betzold also
scored for the Petes (9-12-3), who led 2-1 after one period. The Colts (13-9-1)
scored both of their goals on the power play, with Andreas Athanasiou connecting
in the first period, and Tyson Fawcett getting the equalizer at 5:30 of the
third. Michael Giugovaz made 27 saves for Peterborough, and Mackenzie Blackwood
had 24 for Barrie.
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