Gäste-Forum » one step closer to cementing his Raptors

MADRID, Spain -- Atletico Madrid beat 10-man Real Betis 2-0 Sunday in the Spanish league to increase the pressure on Real Madrid ahead of its clasico with Barcelona. Atletico is tied on 70 points with Madrid, which hosts Barcelona later Sunday. Barcelona has 66 points. Gabi Fernandez opened the scoring in what had been a hard fought contest until Bryan Rodriguez was shown a second yellow card for blatantly swiping at the ball with his hand in the 55th minute. Gabi was afforded space about 10 metres outside the area to smash a swerving drive beyond outstretched goalkeeper Antonio Adan for the 58th-minute lead. Diego Costa made it 2-0 in the 64th after Koke headed on to the Spain striker to fire home his 23rd league goal and 31st in all competitions. While Atleticos season-long surge sees no signs of dipping with nine rounds left, last-placed Betis is running out of time to avoid relegation after falling nine points from safety. Earlier, Sevilla continued its late bid to qualify for next seasons Champions League by beating Osasuna 2-1 for a fifth straight victory. Jairo Samperio put Sevilla ahead after 27 minutes before Carlos Bacca scored a first-half stoppage time penalty after Damia Abella was ajudged to have handled inside the area, which led to Osasuna coach Javi Gracia being dismissed. Sevilla never looked in danger despite Osasuna substitute Javier Acuna scoring an impressive individual effort in the last play of the game. Sevilla has 48 points, seven behind fourth-placed Athletic Bilbao on 55. Osasuna is two points above the relegation zone. Vallencia and Villarreal also play on Sunday, while Real Sociedad faces Almeria on Monday. In other 29th round results, it was: Athletic Bilbao 1, Getafe 0; Malaga 2, Celta Vigo 0; Real Valladolid 1, Rayo Vallecano 1; and Espanyol 0, Levante 0. Gerald Green Jersey . Theres little time for rest, too. The Flyers and Rangers play again Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden. Simmonds scored in the first period and twice more in the second for his first career post-season hat trick. Mason survived a busy first period and stopping 31 straight shots until Carl Hagelin scored late in the third. Clint Capela Rockets Jersey . PETERSBURG, Fla. https://www.rocketsrookiesshop.com/Marqu...Edition-Jersey/. Mike Ribeiro had a goal and an assist as Phoenix held on to snap a two-game losing streak with a 4-3 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Friday. Trevon Duval Jersey . If Vettel wins at Suzuka on Sunday, and his nearest rival Fernando Alonso finishes worse than eighth, the German driver will join his compatriot Michael Schumacher and Argentine Juan-Manuel Fangio as the only men to win four consecutive titles. Michael Frazier Jersey . 3 Ohio State. Amedeo Della Valle had 15 points, Marc Loving scored a career-high 13 and the bench provided 38 points as the Buckeyes sprinted past Nebraska 84-53 on Saturday.TORONTO - Wisely, the Raptors downplayed the importance of an early-season litmus test ahead of Thursdays nationally televised contest with the new and improved Chicago Bulls. I would say yes, admitted Dwane Casey, asked if the Bulls would be their best opponent so far, following morning shoot-around. I would say they are. Just because Derrick Rose is an all-star, Pau Gasol is an all-star, just the amount of talent they have accumulated. Weve got to come out and play our game for 48 minutes. This game doesnt make or break your season, win or lose [but] weve got to come out and establish the way we are going to play. They did for 24 minutes. Barely a second more. Thats one game in the marathon, Casey continued to stress moments after the buzzer sounded on Torontos 100-93 loss. If we had won it, it wouldnt have made [our season]. We lost it and it doesnt break our season. So we learn from it [and] we move on. Theres a lot to learn out of this game, the type of game that you have to play to play at that level. In the end, it turned out to be more of a lesson than a test. To compete with the big boys, the elite teams in the NBA - to which Chicago is among - they cant live like this. You cant lose focus for even a few minutes, let alone an entire quarter. Leading by seven at intermission, and with the US spotlight focused on them, the Raptors looked like a team out of Chicagos league in the third quarter. Going into the game they had not scored fewer than 20 points in any single quarter this season. On Thursday, the Bulls bested them 35-14 in the third, effectively ending the game 12 minutes before it became official. We withstood their punches in the first half but in the third quarter they got us on our heels and we stayed on our heels, Casey said. You know thats the kind of game youre going to have against them. Its a hard game to officiate and its a hard game to play but youve got to make a muscle and fight through the physicality, the bumps, the grind. And we didnt meet that challenge in the third quarter. Its a four-quarter game and that third quarter did us in. The Raptors offence - crisp in the second frame when they shot 55 per cent - went dormant in the third. Chicagos trademark physicality forced Toronto out of its comfort zone. They shot just 29 per cent while the Bulls, led by the veteran savvy of Gasol, hit 12 of their 18 attempts from the field. I think we just didnt play our game from start to finish, said Kyle Lowry, who had 20 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, pacing Toronto in all three categories. We played our game in spurts tonight. Not surprisingly, Lowry put thee team on his shoulders in the fourth, scoring eight points and cutting the deficit - once 18 - to five in the closing minutes.dddddddddddd But it was too late. The Bulls got 20 or more from three starters. Gasol was unstoppable in a throw-back performance, pouring in 27 points on 19 shots to go along with 11 rebounds. Jimmy Butler scored 21 and held DeMar DeRozan to 10 points on 3-of-17 shooting, another frustrating evening for the Raptors guard. And Rose looked like his old self, primarily in the second half, where he scored 13 of his 20 points before exiting late in the game with a hamstring injury. With the game airing on TNT - the first time theyve hosted a Thursday contest on the network since 2002 - the Raptors were over-matched. They suffered their first home loss of the campaign and were knocked out of first place in the Eastern Conference by a Bulls team that now shares their record at 7-2. Thats a good experience for us, said Jonas Valanciunas, who played less than five minutes in the second half, struggling defensively against Gasol, after getting off to a strong start. Were coming off the win streak so thats good. Like a cold shower for us. They made a lot of tough shots. They played good tonight and we werent ready. DeRozan continues to climb Raps scoring list. It was a moment DeRozan had been looking forward to, mostly because he was tired of hearing about it. After narrowly missing the milestone in a frustrating outing against the Magic Tuesday, he wasted little time on Thursday. Fittingly, DeRozan knocked down a mid-range jumper - his bread and butter - over college teammate Taj Gibson nine minutes into the game to pass maligned forward Andrea Bargnani for third on the teams all-time scoring list, having appeared in 41 fewer games with Toronto. DeRozan had already passed Morris Peterson earlier this month in Boston. Now, hes one step closer to cementing his Raptors legacy. Only Chris Bosh and Vince Carter, first and second respectively, have scored more points in a Raptors uniform. Even at his current pace, DeRozan is still at least a couple seasons away from catching Carter and Bosh, his former teammate. Milestone aside, it was another evening to forget for the Raptors All-Star guard. He has made just seven of his last 32 shots over Torontos last two games. I mean, its fine, he said after Thursdays loss. Im not worried about it at all. These games, I understand that theyre going to happen. Ive just got to learn from it. If this was two years ago Id think it was the end of the world, but were only [nine] games in. Id rather have them games now than later on. ' ' '