Anmeldung » late-season surge

MIAMI - With self-preservation topping the Raptors list of late-season priorities, the player they can least afford to lose left American Airlines Arena on a cart. Walking with a noticeable limp, Kyle Lowry boarded the team bus following a 93-83 loss to the two-time defending champion Miami Heat. The result of the game was of little importance. Now it was secondary, as the status of Lowry - and with him, Torontos remarkable season - hung in the balance. "Well just have to wait and see how he is tomorrow," head coach Dwane Casey said after Lowry was pulled from Mondays loss with a sore left knee. Lowry sustained the injury with roughly three minutes remaining in the first half, colliding knee-on-knee with LeBron James, just about the last person on the planet youd want to plow into at high speed. Naturally, the Raptors point guard was slow to collect his bearings, but true to character, he got back up and remained in the game until, eventually, his body betrayed him. "We pulled him out," Casey said. "He couldnt go." Lowry finished the half and started and played most of the third quarter before leaving for the locker room and calling it a night, whether he liked it or not. The knee had swelled and he could barely walk. "We substituted him for Greivis (Vasquez) at that time," Casey continued, "and hes limping, limping, limping. [The medical staff] looked at him and decided he couldnt go back in." X-rays were negative, per Casey, but the status of Torontos most indispensable plater remains up in the air. Its not the first time Lowry has given his team a scare. Most recently, he was pulled in the first half of Fridays win over the Boston Celtics after turning his ankle, but he would re-enter and finish the game. Its inevitable given the way in which he plays. "He does this all the time, so hell be fine," said teammate Terrence Ross. "Kyle, hes a tough guy. He always comes through. No matter what, hes going to find a way to get back on the court." "With Kyle, no matter what his injury is, no matter what type of feeling hes having or what his body is telling him he cant do, his mind and his heart pushes through," echoed Patrick Patterson, who returned from a 13-game absence of his own. "So no matter what the circumstances are with him, unless its something real serious - knock on wood - then hell play. Thats the type of mentality he has. Thats the type of mentality he brings to the team and it rubs off on all of us." Could the Raptors shut Lowry down? Depending on how his knee reacts to a night of swelling and a flight back home, they may not have a choice, at least for a game or two. Again, theyll have to balance the importance of self-preservation and finishing out the season strong. Theres still work to be done with seeding in the Eastern Conference playoff hierarchy at stake. "His body will tell us, he will tell us [and] the medical people will tell us if he can go," said Casey, his team now sharing the third seed with Chicago. "Were not in the position to totally just shut him down. I think weve got to be smart with it. Well see where it is." LeBron carries undermanned Heat Without one-third of Miamis Big Three, as Dwyane Wade sat out resting a sore hamstring, James put the Heat on his shoulders. The reigning MVP began the second quarter sitting on Miamis bench, because even the leagues most physically intimidating specimen needs a breather every now and then. As James sat, Toronto quickly turned a one-point deficit into an eight-point lead. Overall, the Raptors outscored Miami by 12 points in the nine minutes that James spent on the bench Monday evening. However, the leagues best player dominated when he was on the floor, spearheading a 22-9 run to end the first half and putting the game away late in the fourth. Patterson returns Patterson played eight minutes in his return from an elbow sprain that kept him out of Torontos previous 13 contests. Sporting a protective brace on his right elbow, the Raptors forward was understandably rusty but made an impact with his energy and versatility off the bench, something Toronto had missed in his absence. Casey had planned to limit Pattersons minutes in his first game back and could continue to do so until he finds his rhythm. "Its just all about getting used to the brace," said Patterson, who scored his lone field goal on a put-back in the first quarter. "I thought I was a tad bit slow out there, just getting used to the brace as far as my jump shot goes." "Its going to take a little bit more time to get used to, but hopefully in these next three or four games Ill be back to top shape." The stat The Raptors set a new season-low, making just five free throws against the Heat. James, alone, got to the line (11 times) more than Toronto (10). The quote "First of all, we really didnt have the legs like that coming from a tough game last night," said DeMar DeRozan, who scored 16 points after tallying 28 in Sundays win over Orlando. "We got to stop letting teams get easy points in the paint. Thats what is hurting us." Fake Yeezy Boost 350 Cheap . Bradley is one of eight players selected to the team who also played in this years World Cup in Brazil. The MLS all-stars will compete against German giants Bayern Munich in Portland on Aug. Air Jordan 1 Retro High Og Cheap . 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. http://www.fakeyeezyscheap.com/wholesale-air-force-1.html. -- Syracuse was dangerously close to letting another less talented opponent pull off the upset when C. Yeezy Boost Clearance .Steamboat Ski Resort contends Steamboat Springs, Colorado has long been known as Ski Town, U.S.A., and claims in a new lawsuit that Salt Lake tourism officials violated their trademark when they rolled out the Ski City marketing campaign last month. Cheap Under Armour Shoes China . But its also a smart game. Theres more to the Kings than banging bodies. They take a toll mentally on their opponents.MINNEAPOLIS -- Mike Yeos three-year run in Minnesota has been anything but easy. The Wild coach has had to navigate key injuries to his roster, his own growing pains in his first NHL head coaching job and the considerable expectations brought forth when the teams owner spent nearly $200 million on two players two summers ago. The Wild have improved under Yeo in each season, and Yeo has improved himself enough to earn the faith of the Wild leadership going forward. Yeo signed a multi-year contract extension with the Wild on Saturday, the team announced. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the agreement was expected after Yeo guided the team out of the first round of the playoffs for just the second time in franchise history in the final year of his original deal. He has gone 104-82-26 in three seasons with the Wild. "Mike has done a very good job the last three seasons as our head coach and we look forward to his leadership going forward," Wild general manager Chuck Fletcher said. Yeo was an unproven coach with no NHL head coaching track record to go by when Fletcher picked him to take over for Todd Richards three seasons ago. The Wild faded after a strong start to Yeos first season and never found a rhythm in his second year, an abbreviated 48-game schedule due to the lockout. The Wild did snap a five-season playoff drought in his second season, but were dominated by Chicago in a first-round deffeat.dddddddddddd His status was tenuous at best by New Years Eve last season, when the Wild lost their sixth straight game and Yeo felt compelled at the next practice to tell the players he wouldnt coach simply to save his job. But despite foot injuries that kept stars Zach Parise and Mikko Koivu and key defenceman Jared Spurgeon out for long stretches of the winter, Yeo helped hold the group together while the wins picked up. The Wild played all season with a carousel in the net, too, with four different goalies starting 10 games each or more. "There were times where the wheels couldve come off, and he kept it together," said defenceman Ryan Suter, one of several players to endorse Yeo after the season-ending loss to Chicago. The Wild solidified his status in the playoffs with a seven-game victory over Colorado in the first round when the Avalanche led 2-0 and 3-2 in the series. They gave the Blackhawks a fight, too, until falling in six games. The late-season surge, and Yeos impressive strategic decisions both rounds of the playoffs, gave Fletcher the faith that he had the right man for the job. "I am very excited to continue to coach the Minnesota Wild and pursue a Stanley Cup for the State of Hockey," Yeo said. "Our fan support has been amazing and it went to a new level during the playoffs this season. We are all motivated to reward them." ' ' '