Die Macht » sliding feeling in downhill as Ive been in slalom and GS

WASHINGTON - Fresh off his first All-Star Game appearance, DeMar DeRozan - heading into uncharted waters as the Raptors ready for a rare playoff push - addressed his teammates following Tuesday morning shoot around. "Each and every single game matters from here on out, especially if we want to do something special," he told them, as the third-seeded Raptors prepared to begin the unofficial second half of their season against the sixth place Washington Wizards. "We cant take [any] nights off," he stressed. "These 30 games are going to be big and weve got to start tonight." Message received, at least in the first of those final 30 games. It took just over four minutes for all five Raptors starters to get on the board. In the end, six players scored in double figures and the teams bench totaled 43 points on an impressive 18-for-26 shooting, as Toronto came away with a 103-93 win, its third in three games against the Wizards this season. "Thats whats great about our team, everybody understands their role and thats real big," said DeRozan, who had a quiet night by his recent standards, scoring 14 points. "We have anybody that can [step up], it can be anybody. If one guys not playing well, somebody else always picks it up." DeRozans uplifting words were not a surprise to Dwane Casey. The Raptors leading scorer had told his coach that he intended to make the speech on the flight to Washington the day prior. "[I] sat with him and talked about the second half of the season, what to expect, and he said he was going to do that," Casey said. "We talked [Monday] night as a team, talked about the next 30 games, what to expect as a team. Now weve got to follow it up with action. Every team coming out is going to be gunning for him - hes achieved All-Star status - and us as a team, were in the playoff hunt. So weve got to meet those expectations." As a team, the Raptors were expectedly rusty early on, specifically on defence. Washington scored 27 first-quarter points, shooting 57 per cent in the frame, while Wizards All-Star John Wall had 11, matching his game total from the Raptors last visit to Verizon Center, Torontos 101-88 win to begin the month of January. "Its always tough to find a rhythm when youre coming off the All-Star break," said Kyle Lowry, who vacationed in an undisclosed location this past weekend after being passed up for the All-Star Game. "Its always tough but we figured it out in the second half and third quarter, for me especially to get going a little bit." In a matchup between two of the best point guards in the Eastern Conference - arguably the two best - Lowry connected on just two of his eight first-half attempts, scoring six points as Wall exploded for 19, making nine of 12 shots. The Raptors lead guard came out of intermission looking like a man on a mission, scoring 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting in the third, draining long jumpers, getting into the paint at will and knocking down a series of tricky step backs. Lowry finished with a double-double, leading his team with 24 points and 10 assists and Wall was held to three points, without a single field goal, in the second half. "I was trying to attack a little bit more," Lowry, the scorned should-be-All-Star, said of his third-quarter clinic. "That first game out of the break is always tough and I didnt want to let that be an excuse for us to lose this game." "He took the game over in the third quarter and willed us to a win," Casey said of his point guard. "Just his aggressiveness. He attacked their feet, didnt settle for the three, got into the paint and kept attacking." The Raptors recorded 25 assists, 17 from their point guards - Lowry and Greivis Vasquez - and shot 57 per cent on the night, holding Washington, one of the better three-point shooting teams, to 4-of-15 from beyond the arch. Although it looked like it was going to be smooth sailing for Toronto in the third quarter, leading by as much as 20, things got interesting down the stretch when Washington turned up its defensive intensity and the Raptors quickly went ice cold. Toronto was held without a field goal in the final 7:35 of the game, as the Wizards cut their deficit to six down but were unable to get any closer. "We just turned the ball over way too many times against their pressure," Casey said after this team committed eight of their 15 miscues in the final frame. "Thats just from rust and time off, timing, speed of the game." The rest seemed to do wonders for the Raptors, winners of their last three games, specifically Amir Johnson, who has had over 10 days off after missing two contests with a sore right ankle. The Raptors forward made his return off the bench, scoring 14 points and grabbing five rebounds in a spirited 25 minutes of action. Patrick Patterson made his third straight start - scoring 10 points in 34 minutes - and should stick with the first unit for the time being as Johnson works his way back to full health, though Casey wouldnt commit to the lineup change. The Raptors will go for the four-game sweep of Washington when the Wizards visit Toronto next week. They are now four games ahead of the Wizards and a game and a half in front of the fourth-place Chicago Bulls, Torontos Wednesday opponent at the Air Canada Centre. "Thats a tough team," Lowry said of the Bulls, who will be well rested having arrived in Toronto Tuesday, getting the night off. "A different type of game tomorrow night. Theyre very defensive-minded. Theyve got a great coach [in Tom Thibodeau] and a very intense team, with Joakim (Noah) their All-Star. He leads the charge so weve got to match his intensity." Cody Allen Jersey . -- The Sacramento Kings have claimed forward Travis Outlaw off waivers under the NBAs new amnesty provision, filling out the frontcourt with another veteran. Roberto Perez Jersey . Future Hall of Famer Ricky Ray is in his prime and back for a third season in double blue. The 34-year old was magnificent in 2013, throwing for just under 2,900 yards despite missing eight games, tossing an impressive 21 touchdowns against just two interceptions, completing 66 per cent of his passes in the process. http://www.indiansteamproshop.com/Indians-Bradley-Zimmer-Kids-Jersey/ . The Spanish champions decision not to sign a defender during the January transfer window may have backfired after Valencia took advantage of a lethargic, uninspired effort by its hosts at the Camp Nou, where former Spain coach Luis Aragones -- who previously coached the Catalan side -- was honoured after his death on Saturday. Cleveland Indians Jerseys . 1-9 on TSN. With more than 65 hours of exclusive live coverage, TSN delivers all the action beginning with Draw 1 on Saturday, Feb. 1 at 2 p. B.J. Upton Jersey . -- Syracuse was dangerously close to letting another less talented opponent pull off the upset when C.LAKE LOUISE, Alta. - Tina Mazes gamble paid off handsomely. The Slovenian won the season-opening womens World Cup downhill Friday at the Lake Louise Ski Resort.The Olympic gold medallist in both downhill and giant slalom this year was fastest in the second training run. She decided to skip the third and final training session Thursday.Its a risky decision to make, Maze said. I was really nervous, I must say.It was a long, long day yesterday and today to start. Waiting is sometimes tough. I think it was a good decision and Im ready for the next two races.Another downhill is scheduled for Saturday with a super-G to follow Sunday.Maze claimed her 25th career World Cup victory Friday and her second this season to take the early lead in the overall standings. The 31-year-old also won a slalom last month in Levi, Finland.Her victory Friday was her first in Lake Louise.I came here with this wish to win once in Lake Louise, Maze said.Her time Friday was one minute 50.98 seconds in falling snow over the 3,097-metre course. Runner-up Anna Fenninger of Austria was almost half a second back in 1:51.43 while Tina Weirather of Liechtenstein was third in 1:51.52.U.S. ski star Lindsey Vonn was eighth in her first race in almost a year. The woman with 14 career wins in Lake Louise has undergone two knee surgeries in as many years. Vonn had been hoping for a top-five result Friday.I think Im ready to go faster now, Vonn said. For the first day back, I think it was a very solid result and Im definitely happy with it. Every race Im going to build more and more confidence.Although they were held off the podium Friday, the U.S. put four skiers in the top 10. Edmonton-born Laurenne Ross was fourth, Julia Mancuso finished seventh and Stacey Cook placed ninth.Last year was so rough for us that it really couldnt get a whole lot worse, so were excited to have a little more confidence than we had at the beginning of last season, Ross said.It feels good to know we can compete with the top girls, so I have a feeling this season is going to be a lot more positive for us.Larisa Yurkiw of Owen Sound, Ont., was the lone Canadian entrant and finished 222nd.dddddddddddd She hadnt cracked the top 30 in training.I had a lot of work to do after the training runs, she said. They were not where Id hoped they would be. Coming into the race, I knew I had to make some big gains.I have to use my mature side and know that today was good, but Im still striving for that podium throughout this season.Yurkiw underwent a pair of off-season knee surgeries, which delayed her return to snow in the fall.Im a little low on mileage so I think my reactions are not quite there yet, she said.Maze tied for first with Dominique Gisin of Switzerland in the womens Olympic downhill and also won giant slalom gold in Sochi, Russia.Maze captured the overall womens World Cup title in 2013 for her results across all four disciplines of downhill, super-G, giant slalom and slalom. Winning each race, no matter where you are is really important, but as it is the first downhill ... its pretty amazing for me to be able to win here and to find right away this sliding feeling in downhill as Ive been in slalom and GS, Maze said.Fenninger was quickest in the third and final training run. While shes finished as high as second in super-G in Lake Louise, a silver medal in downhill was her best result at the ski resort west of Calgary.Its a pretty good start, the Austrian said. My run was good and Im happy.The first two days (of training) I had some problems with my boots and I did some tests. It was pretty important to be fast in the last (training).Weirather was second in a downhill and in super-G last year in Lake Louise. After three sunny days of training, she found the reduced visibility for Fridays race challenging.It wasnt easy because it snowed in the night, Weirather said. It was kind of aggressive so you felt a little sketchy. Your skis were always holding on and you couldnt see that much. It was tougher than the training runs.After winning the mens downhill and super-G in Lake Louise last weekend, Kjetil Jansrud of Norway kept his streak alive by capturing Fridays downhill in Beaver Creek, Colo. Calgarys Jan Hudec finished 17th and Manny Osborne-Paradis of North Vancouver, B.C., was 20th. ' ' '