Schwarzesbrett » wos coming off Tommy John surgery -- a li

TORONTO - The Raptors knocked down 10 of their first 12 shots, two days after missing 10 of their first 12 attempts. They reached the 100-point plateau for the fourth time in five games, bested the visiting Trail Blazers by 34 in the paint and scored 19 of the final 25 points in regulation. Despite all the aforementioned improvements over Fridays embarrassing defeat to the Bulls, they still picked up their seventh loss in 11 games to begin the season. The culprit of their demise on Sunday afternoon was the three-point shot. "Its tough when theyre knocking down shots like that," said Rudy Gay, after the Blazers went 15-for-32 from three-point range in their 118-110 overtime victory. "No matter how much we rotated, moved around and switched, its tough to [beat] that, when a team has it going like that." Portland entered the game fifth in three-point shooting at 41 per cent and its shooters were red-hot from start to finish. Four Blazers hit three or more treys and they outscored the Raptors, who shot 3-of-17, by 36 from beyond the arc. As a result, Portland extended its lead to as many as 17 before the home team cracked down on defence and Gay took over. Gay, who scored 30 points to go along with 10 rebounds in the game, engineered a 19-6 Raptors run to close out the fourth quarter. Gay had 10 points in that stretch, including the buzzer-beating lay-up that tied the game at 102 and forced overtime. It was his sixth go-ahead or game-tying basket in the final 10 seconds of the fourth quarter or overtime in the past four seasons, passing Carmelo Anthony for most in the league. "It was go-time," Gay said of the comeback that ultimately fell short in extra time. "Of course, the whole game you have to play like its go-time but when youre backs against the wall, you have to pick it up and find a way to get the win." In overtime, the three broke Torontos back again as Portland hit three of five attempts and held the Raptors to 2-of-12 shooting overall. Ball movement, or lack thereof Gay and DeMar DeRozan attempted 54 of Torontos 94 field goals - 27 each - but they combined for just three assists. Despite his game-high 30 points, Gay was held without an assist and despite Kyle Lowrys 10 dimes - to go along with 10 points - only three Raptors registered a helper. "We definitely want there to be movement," Casey acknowledged after the game. "We have out limitations from that standpoint but we want to move the ball, set screens [and] move the ball from side-to-side. Again, weve got to do a better job of that; thats where weve got to find ourselves offensively." Treading water A year ago, the Raptors dug themselves an insurmountable hole after a tumultuous early-season schedule got the best of them. By the time the schedule eased up and their fortunes began to turn, it was too late. Now, as they navigate through a similarly challenging start to the campaign, they thrive to avoid making that same mistake. "We want to make sure were at sea level when the schedule does balance out and not be so far behind that we cant catch up," Casey said Saturday following an afternoon practice. "We want to make sure were treading water and not get so far behind the eight ball while were trying to find out who we are." Fortunately for the Raptors, theyre not the only ones trying to find their identity early in the season. Heading into Sundays action, only four teams in the East (Indiana, Miami, Chicago, Atlanta) boasted records above .500, and at 4-7, Toronto finds itself in the thick of the Eastern Conference and just one game out of first in its division, where the Nets and Knicks are also struggling. "The league hasnt gone anywhere and thats what I tell our players," said Casey. "We still want to have a sense a urgency of finding out who we are offensively and defensively and make sure we find out pretty quick." China Shoes Jordans . "I wouldnt read anything into what happened Saturday at Torrey Pines," Woods said Tuesday after an 18-hole exhibition for past winners of the Dubai Desert Classic. China Shoes Wholesale . The Raptors have to get through the pesky New York Knicks Wednesday at Madison Square Garden and can lock up the third spot in the Eastern Conference with a win or a Chicago loss in Charlotte. https://www.chinashoesshop.com/ . Perhaps as important, shes sending a message to 17-year-old gold medal favourite Sara Takanashi of Japan. Iraschko-Stolz relegated Takanashi, who has 10 World Cup victories this season, to second place in two of three training jumps Saturday. China Shoes Cheap .com) - Former foes from the Mountain West Conference battle in the 23rd annual Las Vegas Bowl, as the 23rd-ranked Utah Utes clash with the Colorado State Rams at Sam Boyd Stadium on Saturday. China Shoes Nike .com) - Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price is set to return Tuesday against Nashville after sitting out the past two games because of a minor upper body injury.TORONTO -- The Kansas City Royals and Toronto Blue Jays both had plenty of opportunities to score runs Friday night. The Royals took advantage of their chances while the Blue Jays came up empty. Alex Gordon and Lorenzo Cain homered as Kansas City defeated Toronto 6-1 on a glorious spring evening at Rogers Centre. Jose Bautista went deep for the Blue Jays, who left 14 men on base and were outhit 9-8. Jason Vargas outduelled J.A. Happ in Kansas Citys second straight victory over the Blue Jays, who had their nine-game winning streak end a night earlier. Toronto (32-24) was a woeful 0 for 10 with runners in scoring position. "When you get on one of those hot streaks that we were on, we were cashing those in," said Blue Jays manager John Gibbons. "But Vargas was really, really good." The Kansas City starter allowed seven hits and one earned run over six innings. Gordon homered in the fourth and Cain added another two-run shot in the eighth to knock Happ out of the game. Despite the loss, Toronto maintained its 2 1/2-game lead on second-place New York in the American League East division standings after the Yankees dropped a 6-1 decision to Minnesota. The Blue Jays entered this four-game series on an offensive tear, piling up the runs over three straight series sweeps. The trick will be keeping that win streak hangover to a minimum. "When you win nine games in a row, you expect to come out the next day and win," said Toronto catcher Erik Kratz. "That mentality hasnt changed the last two nights. We were a couple inches away last night from winning and tonight we were a couple hits away from being back in this game." After the game, the Blue Jays announced that top prospect Marcus Stroman had been recalled from triple-A Buffalo and would start Saturday afternoon. "We want to see him as a starter," Gibbons said. "Hes been really good down there this year and this is his opportunity." Toronto looked ready to do some damage in the first inning after Jose Reyes led off with a triple and Bautista reached on a walk. But like he did all night, Vargas snuffed out the threat. "I feel something like that hopefully sets the tone for the game and fires us up," he said. "We were able to get a run the next inning and keep it moving from there." Kansas City (26-28) padded its lead when Gordon smacked his fourth home run of the season. That waas more than enough offence for Vargas (5-2), who allowed seven hits, one earned run and three walks while striking out seven.dddddddddddd Bautista gave the crowd of 21,543 a charge in the fifth with his 14th home run of the season. Edwin Encarnacion followed with a two-out walk but Brett Lawrie of Langley, B.C., struck out. Happ (4-2) was tagged for six earned runs and nine hits over 7 2/3 innings. He walked two batters and had six strikeouts. Toronto brought the potential tying run to the plate in the seventh against reliever Aaron Crow. Bautista walked and Lawrie hit a two-out single but Dioner Navarro flew out. In the eighth, Cain tacked on some insurance runs with his second home run of the season. "This is more of the offence that we envisioned coming out of spring training," said Royals manager Ned Yost. "Were not going to be a club thats going to lead the league in home runs but weve got home run power that we havent used." Recent triple-A callup Bobby Korecky relieved Happ in the eighth and retired the lone batter he faced. With the bullpen in need of a rest, he stayed on for the ninth and retired the Royals in order. Korecky was sent back down after the game. Notes: Stroman pitched in a relief role earlier this season before being stretched out again in Buffalo. The move also allows the Blue Jays to give Drew Hutchison -- whos coming off Tommy John surgery -- a little more rest. Hutchison will now start Tuesday. ... Bautista threw out a runner at first base for the second straight night. Omar Infante hit a flare into right field that he thought was going into the seats. Bautista slid and trapped the ball after it bounced before getting Infante in plenty of time at first base. "I dont know if youll see a better play in baseball today than that play right there," Yost said. "Omar hit the ball and lost it, he thought it was foul. For Bautista to come, smother the ball, one, and then still see that he had a play at first base, I dont think Ive ever seen a play like that. Tremendous play." ... Encarnacion, who has hit 16 homers this month, walked three times. ... The game took three hours one minute to play. ... Right-hander Aaron Brooks (0-0) is scheduled to start Saturday for the Royals. ... The Blue Jays have homered in 12 of their last 13 games. ... Korecky has a microscopic 0.29 earned-run average with five saves in 22 games with the Bisons. ' ' '