MetalSeadramons Gemach » one-handed dunk. Nic Moore hit a 3-pointer right

TORONTO - Stewing in the frustration of a Game 1 loss, DeMar DeRozan imprisoned himself in his room following a disappointing playoff debut on Saturday. His first postseason experience was something he had been dreaming about, something he had been preparing for, but it didnt go as he had planed. Reflecting on what went wrong, DeRozan spent the duration of the evening in solitude. He didnt turn on the television and he didnt speak to any of his friends around the league. He thought about returning to the Air Canada Centre at 1am to get up some shots, but decided against it. He needed to regroup, to recalibrate. The next day he went back to work. "Im a student of the game," said the Raptors All-Star. "I went back, watched the whole game two or three times." Fast forward to Tuesday nights sequel. DeRozan, finally getting into a rhythm, picked up his fifth foul with just over seven minutes remaining the final quarter. After pleading with coach Dwane Casey to keep him in the game, he was wisely subbed out, finding himself on the bench as his team clutched onto an evaporating lead. They had been up by as many as 11, but the Nets were closing in and the sell-out crowd, electric again, was getting deja vu. The Raptors were wilting under the pressure, succumbing to the veteran savvy of a Brooklyn team that owned the fourth quarter three days prior, or so we thought. There was DeRozan, in solitude once again on the bench, head down while his teammates and coaches convened during a timeout. "It was just my competitive spirit," he said. "I was a little frustrated, just calming myself down. I was a little frustrated that I couldnt be out there with my team, especially at that critical moment. Just staying focused." Two minutes later, he re-entered, the game tied at 83. Almost immediately, he drained a 20-foot jumper to put Toronto on top. Moments later, he knocked down a fadeaway, padding the lead. He never looked back. "It was just me taking advantage of the mistakes I made in the first game and not doing the same thing in this game," said DeRozan after leading the Raptors to a 100-95 win, evening their series with Brooklyn at one game apiece. "Its everything that you dream about, especially when you become a professional athlete, [play] at the highest level." After being held to 14 points - failing to make a shot until the third quarter - in the series premiere, the fifth-year guard scored 17 of his game-high 30 points in the final frame Tuesday, hitting four of his five field goal attempts and nine of his 11 free throws. "Im just happy for him because a lot of people said he had a bad game [Saturday]," said Kyle Lowry, who scored eight of his 13 points in the fourth quarter of Game 2. "Every one has a bad game once in awhile. Tonight, he just showed what he can do. He did an unbelievable job of attacking, being aggressive and he got his rhythm going. Once he gets his rhythm going, he is a hard guard." The playoffs, as we know, are about adjustments from one game to the next and, despite another patchy performance through the first 36 minutes, DeRozan gave the Raptors new life in this series, one that few are expecting them to win. DeRozan was far from perfect and neither were the Raptors. After committing 19 turnovers Saturday, Toronto threw the ball away 21 times. They hit just two of 16 attempts from three-point range and had to overcome quiet outings from both Lowry and Terrence Ross, who shot 1-for-8. Perhaps they were fortunate that the Nets looked nothing like the team that thoroughly outplayed them in Game 1. Paul Pierce, Saturdays hero, was just 2-for-11. He didnt make a shot until the fourth quarter, but couldnt recapture last weekends late-game magic, misfiring on a couple wide-open looks from beyond the arc in the final 30 seconds. The win wasnt pretty, but it was one they needed - a hard-fought game resembling the style of basketball Casey expects to see from his team. "Earlier in the year, we wanted to be the Freddy Krueger of the NBA," said Casey. "Not give up, not give in. I think our guys have done that. We won against a very veteran team like Brooklyn and that is very difficult to do because they seem to find a way to challenge you and keep you on your toes. I thought our guys did a good job of making sure they kept the pedal to the metal." "We werent going down 0-2," stated Amir Johnson, who also enjoyed a bounce-back performance, scoring 16 points to go along with nine boards. "We were the desperate team and we had to play desperate. There was no way we were going to lose that game. It was a must-win for us." Now, its a brand new series, a best of five that will shift to Brooklyns Barclays Center for Fridays Game 3 and Sundays Game 4. Despite the statement win, the Raptors are still expecting be overlooked as they head on the road. "For us to go through the struggles and start from the bottom," DeRozan said, sounding awfully like Drake, the teams global ambassador, seated courtside Tuesday, "and work our way up and still dont get the respect we deserve, we understand we still have a long way to go." "We dont want no attention, at all," added Greivis Vasquez, who scored 11 off Torontos bench. "Were fine with that. We let the people talk, but we do the talking on the court and thats just who we are, really. We lost the first game and everyone was talking. Everyone was killing DeMar because he couldnt do anything, now theyre going to love him for a couple more days. Its just basketball, man." "Everyone is doubting us, which is great," Casey said. "We look at their minutes in playoff play, they have a couple Hall of Famers on the team. We are the underdog, but the way our guys competed and fought tonight, I was proud. Now the series starts." Quiet contribution from Fields As practice was letting out on Monday, Vasquez inadvertently let the cat out of the bag; Landry Fields had been involved in the teams preparation for Game 2 and could be used to try and slow down Pierce or Joe Johnson. Sure enough, Fields entered the game in place of John Salmons late in the first quarter. Although 12 Raptors saw the floor in Game 1, Fields was relegated to the bench, where hes spent most of the season. However, the fourth-year forward has stayed ready and has been a reliable source of energy when called upon. Tuesday was no different. Without attempting a single shot, Fields, an active player on both ends of the floor, made an impact with his defence. After Johnson scored 12 points in the third quarter - mostly against DeRozan - Fields held him to just two points in the final period. "Its just human nature, we always talk about who scored the most points, who carried the team," Vasquez pointed out. "Credit to Landry, because he wasnt playing at all and look at what he does. He was the MVP tonight. It wasnt anyone else but him because he didnt score, but he played great defence and that was contagious." Casey tightened his rotation, using just eight players, splitting minutes in the frontcourt amongst Johnson, Jonas Valanciunas and Patrick Patterson The stat(s) - Toronto had a 52-30 advantage on the boards, including a 19-11 edge on the offensive glass. Their 52 rebounds was the most the Raptors have ever tallied in a playoff game. - Valanciunas recorded his second straight double-double in the series - 15 points and 14 rebounds - becoming the first NBA player to total at least 30 points and 30 boards in his first two career playoff games since Ralph Sampson and Sam Perkins in 1985. - DeRozan became the fourth player in Raptors history to score 30 points in a playoff game, joining Vince Carter, Chris Bosh and Antonio Davis. The quote "Weve been here when people just thought you could come to Toronto and get a win," DeRozan said. "Weve been though all that, frustrating seasons and we want everyone to know that when you play against the Toronto Raptors, youre going to have to fight, youre going to have to bring your game." New York Mets Shirts .C. Lions signed cornerback Dante Marsh to a contract extension on Friay and released receiver Paris Jackson. New York Mets Gear .A. Happ capped a challenging season with one of his best efforts of the year. https://www.cheapmetsjerseys.us/ .That means, of course, that John Wall beat the Spurs for the first time ever — within weeks of his first wins in head-to-head games against nemeses Chris Paul and Derrick Rose. Wholesale Mets Jerseys . -- Josh MacDonalds second goal of the game kept his team alive as the Peterborough Petes edged the host Kingston Frontencas 6-5 in overtime on Friday in Ontario Hockey League playoff action. Fake Mets Jerseys . According to a police report, Douglas is accused of grabbing his girlfriend by the neck and slamming her against the wall several times while he carried her from the elevator to their Hartford hotel room early Sunday morning.DALLAS -- Moody Madness indeed, and quicker than even Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown thought. Nick Russell had 15 points to go with a couple of big steals as SMU beat No. 7 Cincinnati 76-55 on Saturday night, ending the Bearcats 15-game winning streak. It was the Mustangs third win over a Top 25 team in seven games since moving back into renovated Moody Coliseum on campus five weeks ago. "If we didnt have a good team, all wed have is a beautiful building," said Brown, in his second season at SMU. "I didnt imagine it would be like this this quickly. But I was hopeful that we could get it that people wanted to see our team play and appreciate the fact that were playing hard and playing the right way." Before their recent surge, the Mustangs (19-5, 8-3 American Athletic Conference) hadnt defeated a ranked opponent anywhere since December 2003. They hadnt had multiple wins against Top 25 teams in the same season since 1984-85, the last time SMU appeared in the poll. They reached as high as No. 2 that season. After this one, fans rushed the floor to celebrate. "It was crazy," said Cannen Cunningham, who had 11 points. "Everybodys my best friend now." Russell had two steals in less than a minute that led to breakaway baskets, with a 3-pointer from Nic Moore in between, to cap an 11-0 run by the Mustangs after Cincinnati (22-3, 11-1) cut the gap to 48-41 midway through the second half. "Theres not much to say. They beat us in every facet of the game," Bearcats coach Mick Cronin said. "We didnt meet the challenge. ... I think we just got rattled, no question about it. We didnt show poise." Cincinnati, with its highest ranking in 10 years, hadnt lost since dropping consecutive games against New Mexico and Xavier in the first half of December. The Bearcats beat SMU 65-57 at home in thee AAC opener on New Years Day.dddddddddddd Ben Moore also had 15 points for SMU, while Nic Moore scored 14. AAC scoring leader Sean Kilpatrick led Cincinnati with 22 points on 5-of-18 shooting, including 3 for 12 on 3-pointers. The Bearcats scored six points in a row to make it 48-41, the closest they had been since there were 3 minutes left in the first half, when Titus Rubles hit two free throws after being fouled on a breakaway drive after stealing a pass. They didnt get any closer after Russell made a layup after Markus Kennedy broke through two defenders and passed him the ball. SMU was back up 59-41 with 8:13 left when Russell had a steal and broke free for a thunderous, one-handed dunk. Nic Moore hit a 3-pointer right before that, after Ben Moores breakaway layup that came after another steal by Russell. "When Nick got a steal and they didnt even try to run back with him, I figured it was over," Cunningham said. The sellout crowd in the 7,000-seat building broke into chants of "Larry! Larry! Larry!" several times -- from before tipoff until late in the game. While students at one end serenaded Cincinnati players with "Over-rated," students sitting at the end near Brown and the SMU bench yelled out "Under-rated!" Maybe that wont be the case any more for the Mustangs after another convincing victory over a ranked team. The Mustangs won all six of their home games played off campus before re-opening Moody Coliseum with a 74-65 win Jan. 4 over then-No. 17 UConn. Last Saturday, SMU beat then-No. 22 Memphis 87-72. "At the beginning of the year, we knew that we believed in each other, but not a lot of people did," Russell said. "Im sure nobody expected us to be here. We knew what we had: Weve got a great coach, a great coaching staff -- the skys the limit." ' ' '