Gäste-Forum » he said. His cap was removed

TORONTO - After taking full advantage of a friendly early-season schedule, the Raptors are set to embark on a daunting six-game road trip, their longest of the campaign and a stretch that should go a long way in determining what theyre really made of. Its been a historic start to the franchises 20th season. Sitting atop the Eastern Conference for a team-record 49 consecutive days, theyll enter the Christmas break with at least 22 wins for the first time in their existence. The caveat, if there is one, has been the degree of difficulty. Its important that we play good teams because its really going to test our character, said Greivis Vasquez following the Raptors 118-108 wire-to-wire win over the Knicks, their sixth straight victory. We havent really faced adversity and everything right now is great, but I think were ready for a couple of premium tests. A third of the way through the season, Toronto has played 17 home games - winning 14 of them - which tops any team in the NBA. Theyve seen the Western Conferences top seven teams just twice - defeating the undermanned Grizzlies and falling to Dallas. At times, the modest level of competition has allowed them to get away with some bad habits, primarily on defence, where their effort has been sporadic. Unexpectedly, Toronto features the leagues second-most efficient offensive attack but theyve fallen to 11th in that same category on the other end of the floor. While their defence tends to pick up in the second half, saving them from slow starts against inferior opponents, they know theyll need to put together more complete outings over the next couple weeks to come up victorious away from the comforts of the Air Canada Centre. Its going to be a challenge, Vasquez said. Were looking forward to this challenge. Anytime you go to the West, its not easy but I think were good enough to come out with a couple of wins and do our job. Weve got to remain humble and hungry and continue to work. Im ready for it, Dwane Casey insisted. We should be ready because weve been preaching it. Everyones all excited but reality is real and we have to be ready for adversity, whenever it hits. You go into it with positive vibes, ready to kick some behind but when adversity hits thats when you find out how close we are and how we have to stick together. The trip begins with a visit to Chicago - their only Eastern Conference stop - in the second game of a back-to-back Monday. Theyll have three days off for Christmas before heading out West, where theyll face the Clippers, Nuggets, Trail Blazers, Warriors and Suns as the ACC hosts the world junior hockey championship. Torontos opponents during their most recent six-game winning streak entered Sundays games with a combined record of 43-123 (.259). The six teams theyll face on this coming road trip are 106-55 (.658), while the Raptors have an all-time record of 42-80 (.344) in the buildings theyll be visiting. Tomorrow will be a game that lets us know where we are in the league, Casey said of Mondays match-up with the Bulls, a team that defeated Toronto 100-93 last month. Were one of the top teams, we are in that group but tomorrow night we have to show where we fit in that sphere. As a team, their first challenge came in the form of an injury to DeMar DeRozan. In 12 games without their leading point producer, the Raptors have held together, winning nine of those contests as their nightly scoring average - almost exactly the same as it was before the all-star guard sustained his injury - remains elite. Without a timetable for DeRozans return, the Raptors will hit the road and its unlikely theyll have him back in uniform before their return home in early January. This trip wont determine their fate. In the grand-scheme of things, the six-game stretch accounts for roughly seven per cent of their regular season schedule. Its not make or break, but it should be a healthy barometer for a team with high aspirations in the spring. Its always about ourselves, Vasquez said. We dont want to prove anything to anybody. This is a family right here in this locker room. Hopefully we do well. Ive got all the confidence in the world that we can do better and that were going to continue to get better. We cant be satisfied because weve got a 22-6 record. We want more. Good teams win the games they should - the Raptors are an impressive 15-2 against losing clubs this season. But great teams are the ones that can compete with the rest of the leagues elite. What are they made of? Well find out soon enough. FIELDS SITS OUT The Raptors were without newly-minted starter Landry Fields, who was sidelined as a precaution having sustaining a head injury in Fridays win over Detroit. Fields needed eight stitches to close up a gash on the back, right-side of his head after a scary fall knocked him out of the game. He remained sprawled out on the court, surrounded by his teammates, coaches and the medical staff for several minutes, as a pool of blood collected underneath his head, before being helped up and to the locker room. Although the forward passed initial concussion tests that night, he failed a secondary examination ahead of Sundays contest. Fields had said he blacked out for a moment after hitting his head on the court but seems to have dodged a bullet. He was lucid in the locker room post-game, walking around and conversing with teammates. Hes alert, looks good, looks as ugly as hes always looked, Casey joked. But those tests are intricate so its something that you have to go through, which is great. Its the right thing to do to make sure [hes okay]. The fifth-year vet had been a pleasant surprise, starting six straight games in the absence of DeRozan, logging over 20 minutes in each of the five before his injury - his longest streak as a Raptor. James Johnson replaced him in the starting lineup Sunday, matching up with Knicks star Carmelo Anthony. Although Johnson picked up two quick fouls, limiting him in the first quarter, he did an admirable job on Anthony in 24 minutes of action. The Raptors - primarily Johnson and Terrence Ross - held Anthony to 28 points on 26 shots. Adidas NMD R1 Rebajas . Cabrera is hitting .218 with three homers and 16 RBI in 80 games this season. The Padres recalled second baseman Brooks Conrad from Triple-A El Paso to replace Cabrera on the roster. Adidas Gazelle Rebajas . The Wild, playing their first game since leading scorer Mikko Koivu broke his ankle Saturday at Washington, have won three straight for the first time since Nov. 1-5. Koivu underwent surgery on Monday and is expected to miss at least four weeks. http://www.baratasnmd.com/adidas-ultra-boost-baratas.html. Louis Cardinals a hard-fought victory. The Colorado Rockies intentionally walked Yadier Molina with one out and runners on first and third to load the bases for Kozma. Adidas NMD CS2 Baratas . “The shootout, theres nothing wrong with it, I think its an exciting part of the game but its just one small aspect,” said Chicago Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman. “Its a skill exhibition. If you can get it back closer to regular hockey and have it decided that way; that would be my preference.” “I dont think its a knock on the shootout, I think more of the managers would like to see it end in overtime,” added Washington Capitals GM George McPhee. Zapatillas Adidas NMD R2 . Lauzon rushed for 42 yards on 15 carries for the Vert et Or (2-3) while quarterback Jeremi Roch completed 19-of-32 passes for 251 yards and one interception. Alexandre Aube scored the other touchdown for Sherbrooke. MARANA, Ariz. -- Graeme McDowell figured his luck had run out Friday at the Match Play Championship. After two remarkable rallies to even reach the third round, McDowell missed a pair of 8-foot putts to fall 2 down with two holes to play against Hunter Mahan, who had lost only four times in 18 matches at the Golf Club of Dove Mountain. "My head went down as I walked off the 16th green. I really thought I blew it," McDowell said after yet another improbable comeback. "I genuinely thought I was done this time. I really didnt think there was any way back from that." Even he couldnt believe what followed. McDowell won the next two holes to extend the match. He made a 20-foot par putt on the 20th hole to stay alive, and then won the next hole with a 15-foot birdie putt. "Nine lives have been used up -- and then some," McDowell said. Ernie Els is 5-over par in 57 holes over three matches and he reached the quarterfinals. Jim Furyk has been at least 2 down in every match and he advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time in 14 appearances. Rickie Fowler won a match that featured an 18-foot par putt conceded to him by Sergio Garcia, who felt bad because of a ruling that had taken too much time on the previous hole. The Accenture Match Play Championship always has its share of wild tales. McDowell tops them all. How else to explain how a guy can play 58 holes over three matches without ever hitting a tee shot with the lead? Most players are relieved with every match they win. McDowell felt a tinge of guilt. "Embarrassed is the wrong word. Im not embarrassed," he said. "But I just feel like Im robbing these guys." Perhaps its only fitting that his quarterfinal match is against Victor Dubuisson of France, who took out Bubba Watson. Dubuisson has never trailed at any point this week. He plays the guy who has never led a single hole while the match was going on. In other matches: -- Furyk, getting plenty of support from his college days at Arizona, rallied from an early deficit to beat Harris English on the 18th hole. He next plays Fowler, who made birdie on the 18th for a 1-up win over Garcia. -- Jason Day, who played 40 holes over the opening two rounds, had a relatively easy time in beating George Coetzee, 3 and 1. Day will play the quarterfinals against Louis Oosthuizen, who was stellar in a 5-and-4 win over Webb Simpson. -- Els beat a reigning major champion for the second straight day -- U.S. Open champion Justin Rose on Thursday, PGA champion Jason Dufner on Friday. Even though he was scrappy again, the Big Easy birdied the 18th for a 1-up victory over Dufner.dddddddddddd Now its time to play 20-year-old Jordan Spieth, who had 10 birdies on his card to take out defending champion Matt Kuchar. Els has made only nine birdies all week. The only player who had a more unlikely run to the quarterfinals in the 16-year history of this Accenture Match Play Championship was Geoff Ogilvy at La Costa in 2006. In his opening four matches, he watched 10 times as his opponent had a putt to win the match. Ogilvy went extra holes in every match until the semifinals, and he went on to win the tournament. McDowell can only hope he gets the same outcomes. "Im playing with house money," he said. McDowell was 3 down to Gary Woodland with three holes to play when he won the next three holes, and then beat him with a birdie on the 19th hole in the opening round. He was 2 down with four holes to play against Hideki Matsuyama when he won two holes, made a 10-foot par to halve another, and won the 18th with a par. It bordered on ridiculous against Mahan, who had a 16-4 record on this golf course. Unlike the opening two days, McDowell actually had a chance to take the lead with birdie chances on the eighth, ninth and 10th holes. Mahan went ahead with a birdie on the 11th, prompting McDowell to say, "Im allergic to 1 up." Hes used to being down, especially late in the match. Mahan pitched to 3 feet for birdie on the 15th, and he won the 16th when McDowell three-putted for bogey. Both players drove into the rough on the 17th, both came up short in the bunker. McDowell had 10 feet for par, Mahan was inside of that by a few feet. McDowells par putt just curled into the left side of the cup, and he slammed his putter into the bag. "Where has that been all day?" he said. His cap was removed when Mahans putt slid by, and off they went to the 18th. McDowells approach caught the ridge, and he made the 6-foot birdie for overtime. Surely, his luck figured to run out on the 20th hole, the par-4 ninth, when his 3-wood caught a deep bunker and left him no shot at the green. McDowell hit 9-iron to get over the lip and barely cleared the desert, and his third shot settled 20 feet away. He made that for par and kept going until the next hole. It was the second time McDowell has beaten Mahan in match play. The other was far more important -- the decisive match at the Ryder Cup in Wales. "I didnt really know what to say to him," McDowell said. "I said everything but sorry, you know? I didnt say, Sorry. But I felt sorry for him. I didnt feel sorry for him, I felt sorry for what had happened." ' ' '