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TORONTO - Its not a trait that Dwane Casey is entirely proud of, certainly not one hes comfortable relying on, but his team has mastered the art of procrastination. The Raptors had an early deadline Sunday, a dreaded afternoon game, and they left the bulk of their work until the last minute, as theyve done so many times before. Casey - like an angry parent, stringent teacher or meticulous boss - gave them the wake-up call they sorely needed. Down by as many as 14 points and allowing the visiting Hawks to shoot 54 per cent in the first half, the Raptors coach stormed into the locker room and addressed his team at intermission. "I sang them a lullaby," he joked. "I gave them some milk and cookies and said, lets go." You didnt have to be a fly on the wall to gauge the tone of Caseys halftime sermon. "Oh, man, he came in here yelling," said DeMar DeRozan after Torontos 96-86 comeback victory over Atlanta. "Once Casey yells, you either have to do your job or youre going to hear him yelling after the game. We understood." Having dropped their first four Sunday afternoon games this season - allowing at least 112 points in each of them - the Raptors hit the snooze again on this day. Toronto shot 28 per cent in the opening quarter, scoring 16 points and committing seven turnovers. "I told Tim Leiweke on the way in [the locker room], it was like pulling teeth," Casey said. "It was like going to the dentist office in that first half." "We were playing terrible [in] that first half," echoed DeRozan. It took nearly 17 minutes of game-time before he registered his first field goal. It took nearly 20 minutes before Kyle Lowry made his first bucket. "We knew what we had to do." Trailing by nine points to begin the fourth quarter, the Raptors finally got to business. Led by its two best players, Toronto scored 36 points in the final 12 minutes - more than they tallied in the first and third combined - while holding the Hawks to 15. On the season, Toronto has scored 209 points more than its allowed in the fourth quarter, the best mark in the NBA, and its not close. The two-time defending champion Miami Heat, second best, have outscored opponents by 141 in the final frame. Conference leaders San Antonio and Indiana are third and fourth best. The Raptors have won 10 games in which theyve trailed after three quarters this season, something they accomplished just three times a year ago. "Were just resilient, to be honest, man," said DeRozan. He and Lowry combined for 23 points on 8-of-11 shooting in the fourth after scoring 23 on 9-of-24 in the first three quarters. "We understand how important the game is coming out in the fourth quarter," continued, DeRozan, who finished with 21 points. "Everything matters. Our attention to detail on both ends definitely steps up. We understand weve got to pull out a win somehow, someway." Lowrys minutes down in win Less than five minutes into the game, Lowry was sent to the bench, replaced by Greivis Vasquez. It was an unprecedented early-game benching for the Raptors point guard who has been logging heavy minutes, playing the bulk of, if not the duration of the first quarter. He did not seem hurt, nor did it appear to be for disciplinary reasons. Later, less than six minutes into the third, he was replaced again. Limiting Lowrys minutes was the plan going in, Casey explained after the game. "Hes had a lot of minutes," said the Raptors coach. "I was talking to our medical people, and as an organization, were going to try to keep his minutes down as much as possible. Thats hard, believe me, as a coach and for him. Hes such a competitor." Theres nothing specific thats ailing Lowry, Casey said and he confirmed. Its the wear and tear of a long season that has the team concerned about Lowry, who is averaging nearly 37 minutes per night, a career-most. "I dont think [any] player in the NBA right now feels 100 per cent," said Lowry, after scoring 25 points Sunday. "Its that time of the year where everyone has nicks and nacks and bruises and all that stuff." Lowry logged 27 minutes, his fewest since Feb. 3 in Utah, a game he left with a knee injury. Amir goes down, and gets back up Battling for a rebound late in the fourth, Amir Johnson collided with Hawks guard Shelvin Mack and went down hard, holding his left knee. You may not be surprised when Johnson hits the deck, although its usually after tweaking one of his rickety ankles, but you shouldnt be surprised when he hops back up, which was the case again Sunday, waving off the trainers and remaining in the game. "It wasnt a scare, it was just initial pain," said Johnson, who had six points to go along with eight boards against the Hawks. "Once I walked it off, I was fine." His teammates have come to expect the occasional injury scare from him but that doesnt make it easier to cope with. "To be honest, hes probably our heart and soul so when that happened, it kind of scared us a little bit," Lowry said. "Ive seen Amir get hit by a Mack Truck and get up," joked DeRozan. "I always hate to see him go down. One thing about Amir, Amir plays through any and everything. He kind of scared me tonight. When he grabbed his knee, I kind of cussed at him a little to make sure he was alright." Going deep With Patrick Patterson out, still nursing an elbow injury, and Casey searching for bursts of energy in a lacklustre first half, the Raptors used 12 of their available players in Sundays game. Vasquez logged 28 minutes and led the bench in scoring for the fourth consecutive game with 12. No other Raptors reserve played more than Tyler Hansbroughs 12 minutes. Chuck Hayes played well, scoring four points and grabbing three rebounds in 11 minutes and Nando De Colo logged 10, hitting his first field goal in eight games with the Raptors. The stat Lowry extended his career-best streak of 19 or more points to nine games. Hes averaging 22.6 over that stretch, scoring 20 or more in each of his last six contests. The quote "Im only 24, Ill play the whole game," said DeRozan, on the possibility of having his minutes cut down, like Lowrys. "Kyles old. Hes damn near 30. I understand, youve got to do what youve got to do. Im ready for whatever." Wholesale Baltimore Ravens Jerseys . Terrance Broadway threw for 227 yards and Hunter Stover kicked three field goals as the Ragin Cajuns won an unprecedented fourth straight New Orleans Bowl with a 16-3 triumph over Nevada. Jaylon Ferguson Jersey . Portland won Game 4 Sunday night at the Moda Center and are now up 3-1. The last time the Blazers won a playoff series came in the 2000 Western Conference semifinals against the Utah Jazz. http://www.cheapravensjerseysauthentic.com/?tag=authentic-iman-marshall-jersey . TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie tweeted on Monday that Hemsky will be going to market as an unrestricted free agent on July 1. Jonathan Ogden Jersey ... maybe even more than that. Maybe all season I have to take a few blows. Justice Hill Jersey . The announcement was made by the hall on Friday, March 14. She joins Switzerlands Denise Biellmann as this years inductees to the Hall, based in Colorado Springs, CO.CLEVELAND - As the old saying goes, if you play with fire, youre going to get burned. Dwane Casey, who has used the phrase as a cautionary tale after lethargic starts of the recent past, came just short of saying I told you so Tuesday evening. His team had been getting away with it, far more often than any team should. Yes, theyre a resilient bunch and that was the case again in Cleveland as they clawed back from a 21-point deficit - even taking a brief fourth-quarter lead - but its been masking the underlying issue. Theyre an open-faced sandwich, missing the top bun. "You cant play in this league that way and expect to come back each and every night," Casey said after Torontos 102-100 loss to the Cavaliers. "Its bit us more than weve won, it feels like." "Until we fix that, among us, among ourselves, then its going to be an uphill battle every night." For the second time in three days, the Raptors trailed by nine after the first quarter, allowing another team with a losing record, also missing their best player, to shoot above 52 per cent to open the game. The start was eerily similar to Sundays, at home to Atlanta, lacking effort, focus and purpose on both ends of the floor. Even without injured point guard Kyrie Irving, Cleveland killed the visiting Raptors with speed and precision, exposing a reoccurring hole in their interior defence by darting into the paint at will. The comeback was inevitable. Its what they do. Down by 21 early in the third, Toronto staged a 21-9 run to close out the quarter. Kyle Lowry - running back and forth from the locker room all night, battling an upset stomach - scored half of his team-high 22 points in the frame. Greivis Vasquez would give the Raptors their first lead since the opening minutes, draining a three-pointer midway through the fourth before reality set in. "I think everybodys energy was low from having to come back," Lowry said. From that moment on they hit just one of their final 10 shots and on the last possession, down only two, they failed to even get one off. It was a play they had just run with success. Amir Johnson was looking for Lowry to turn the corner, but he was cut off. Instead, Vasquez took the handoff and, trying to spin right, towards the bucket, he lost his footing. "It was me going to my weak hand and I lost my balance, stepped kind of weird," said Vasquez, who scored 16 points of Torontos bench. "I turned the ball over. Ill take responsibility. Im not going to run away. Im a man." A noble gesture but, as Casey pointed out, its not the reason for the loss. "Thats not the game-decider," the Raptors coach said. "The game was decided the way we approached the first quarter." "Its easy to get up for OKC, its easy to get up for Miami, its easy to get up for Indiana but the teams that are not in the playoff picture, they are playing for something, too," he continued.dddddddddddd "Theyre playing for pride, which is probably a little bit more dangerous than guys trying to save minutes and save themselves for the playoffs." Theres a lesson to be learned from this loss and it shouldnt take long to figure out whether or not its been absorbed. The Raptors - now the Easts fourth seed, leapfrogged by the Bulls with Tuesdays defeat - will travel to Boston in the second night of a back-to-back and first game of a home-and-home set with the Celtics, another scrappy team looking to play spoiler. "Weve got to get the mindset of being the hunter instead of the hunted because," Casey added. "Thats how we got where we are, being a desperate team, a hungry team and not believing the press clippings or where we are in the standings." Birthday blues Although Lowry would have preferred to celebrate his 28th birthday with a win, the Raptors point guard recorded his 18th double-double with 10 assists to go along with his 22 points. Lowry extended his career-high streak of 19 or more points to 10 games and also became the first Raptor to score 20-plus in eight straight since Chris Bosh did so in 2010. Amir passes VC on blocks list With his third-quarter swat on Spencer Hawes, Johnson recorded his 416th block as a member of the Raptors, passing Vince Carter for second on the teams all-time block shots list. Johnson, who had 12 points and nine rebounds on Tuesday, still has a ways to go to catch Bosh, topping the franchise list with 600 blocks. Patterson nearing a return Patrick Patterson, who has missed 10 straight games with an ulnar collateral sprain in his right elbow, was reassessed on Monday and is headlong well, the team revealed before Tuesdays game in Cleveland. Although hes been cleared for contact, theres still no timetable for his return to game action. "Its a lot up to the medical staff and when they feel he can go," Casey said. "Its one of those things where if he gets hit in the wrong way it could be trouble for a lot longer so thats why they want to make sure its well enough." The stat The Raptors fell just short of matching their largest comeback of the season. They last overcame a 21-point deficit in their home win over Dallas on Jan. 22. Toronto hasnt had multiple wins in which theyve trailed by 20 or more points in the same season since 2004-05. The quote "Weve just got to understand what were playing for," Vasquez said. "Weve got a big one tomorrow [in Boston]. Its a must-win because were actually playing for something. If you dont get up for that youve got to get your gas up. Weve just got to be motivated, man. This is crunch time. This is important for us. Tomorrows a must-win, no matter what. No excuses." 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