B4 RED DEER ADVOCATE Monday, March 10, 2014
Raptors roll to another win BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Raptors 111 Timberwolves 104 MINNEAPOLIS — The Toronto Raptors have had every excuse to give in this season. They’ve had injuries to key players, turned the roster over significantly with an early season trade and had low expectations after a regime change portended a possible tear down and rebuild. Kyle Lowry doesn’t make excuses. Dwane Casey doesn’t make excuses. And the Raptors haven’t given an inch while climbing the Eastern Conference ladder. Lowry had 20 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists for his fourth career triple-double, lifting the Raptors to a 111104 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday night. DeMar DeRozan added 25 points and seven rebounds and Steve Novak hit five 3-pointers for the surprising Raptors (35-26), who have won nine of their last 11 games to surge to third place in the East. They are nine games over .500 for the first time since 200607. “We try to keep everybody’s spirits high even if it’s not going well on the basketball court and we don’t let nothing get down on us,” said DeRozan, whose team shot 58.3 per cent (14 for 24) on 3-pointers. “That’s the cool thing about our team. We continue to keep it going.” Kevin Love had 26 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists, and Nikola Pekovic added 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Timberwolves. Minnesota has started a crucial four-game homestand with two losses in three games, and the team’s hopes of climbing from 10th in the West into the playoff picture are looking bleak. “We’ve got to go out and win games we’re not supposed to win,” Wolves coach Rick Adelman said. “That’s the approach you have to take. If you’re going to get down and you start moping about it, you’re going to lose again.” The Raptors got some bad news early in the day when they learned Patrick Patterson, a key member of the bench during their post-Rudy Gay trade surge, would miss the next seven to 10 days with a sprained right elbow. But just as they have done over the last two months, the Raptors found someone else to step up.
Photo by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry drives the ball around Minnesota Timberwolves guard Ricky Rubio in the first half of an NBA game, Sunday, in Minneapolis. The Raptors won 111-104. Novak had played less than 13 minutes over the last month, but he scored a season-high in 18 minutes and Terrence Ross (15), Amir Johnson (15) and Greivis Vasquez (12) all reached double figures in scoring as well to earn a tough road win. “I can’t say enough good things about those guys cause it’s going to take all of us, especially with Patrick being out,” Casey said. The Wolves entered the night five games behind Dallas and Phoenix for the eighth and final spot in the West. They’ve now lost two of the first three games of a crucial four-game homestand. They put up a fight in this one, trimming a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to 93-91 with five minutes to play.
Canucks snap skid with win over Flames
to get up to 95-100 pitches in his next two starts, then perhaps dial it back for his final spring outing before pitching in the seasonopening series at Tampa Bay. “Being older, I know what I need to do to prepare, and this is one of the things that helps me feel confident when I take the mound, knowing that I’ve gone deep in games in the spring,” he said. “That way when it happens during the season I’m able to do it right from the get-go and not have to build into it. It works for me. Everybody’s different.” Marwin Gonzalez and Carlos Perez drove in runs for the Astros in the eighth inning off losing pitcher Jeremy Jeffress. Jason Castro hit a two-run homer for the Astros in the sixth. The Blue Jays took a 3-2 lead in the eighth on a play in which the Astros lost a replay challenge for the second straight day. Steve Tolleson beat a close play at the plate, scoring on a double by Erik Kratz. “If it’s that close, then it’s definitely worth challenging because there’s no telling what angle they may end up getting that can actually overturn it,” Houston manager Bo Porter said. STARTING TIME BLUE JAYS: Asked about the
BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Halfway through his six spring training appearances, R.A. Dickey feels like an old pitcher with a new beginning. “It’s like getting to start over and do it the right way. You feel like you’re getting a chance to reboot,” Dickey said Sunday after pitching five shutout innings for the Toronto Blue Jays in a 4-3 exhibition loss to the Houston Astros. “It makes you somewhat regret not being able to invest the time that was really needed last year.” Dickey’s first spring with the Blue Jays was interrupted by the World Baseball Classic. A year after winning the NL Cy Young Award with the New York Mets in 2012, he went 4-7 through May with a 5.18 ERA. “You don’t know that in the moment, and you’re getting to do a really fantastic honour,” he recalled, “but having spent a lot of time with my guys on the team and getting to prepare my body, (this spring) just feels normal.” Dickey threw 82 pitches in five innings in his third spring start, giving up four hits and a walk while striking out four. He plans
Canada’s Adam Hadwin wins Chile Classic for first Web.com Tour title THE ASSOCIATED PRESS SANTIAGO, Chile — Canada’s Adam Hadwin won the Chile Classic on Sunday for his first Web.com Tour title, birdieing the final two holes for a onestroke victory over Australia’s Alistair Presnell. The 26-year-old Hadwin shot a 3-under 69 at Prince of Wales Country Club
diminished expectations for the Blue Jays this season, Dickey deadpanned: “I think we’re terrible, and I don’t want anybody to take us seriously. I think because of last year, we’re probably going to get walked all over every game.” ASTROS: Rudy Owens, a 26-year-old left-hander who has yet to pitch in the major leagues, matched zeroes with Dickey for three innings, giving up one hit. “I never faced that calibre of hitters, but it’s something I’ve dealt with and I’ve been doing for my entire career,” he said. “It’s time for me to step up and I did.” TRAINER’S ROOM Toronto manager John Gibbons on the post-Tommy John surgery outlook of pitcher Drew Huthison: “You don’t even think of Tommy John; modern medicine is so good. It’s almost like when you draft these guys and sign ’em, do Tommy John right away because sometimes they end up better than they were to begin with.” NICE IMPRESSION Kratz drove in two runs with a single and a double while catching Dickey’s knuckleball for five innings. “Calling knuckleballs is an anxious proposition so he’s got to navigate that some. He did a good job,” Dickey said.
for a 16-under 272 total. He earned $117,000. “I don’t know what to say,” Hadwin said. I really don’t know to feel, what to think,“ he said. ”It’s amazing. I battled all day and to finish birdie-birdie and make the putts I did on the last two holes gives me so much confidence. I couldn’t be happier.“ Presnell had three eagles, the last an 18-footer on the par-5 18th for a 68. Hadwin got up-and-down from a greenside bunker on the 308-yard, par4 17th to tie Presnell for the lead. From 230 yards on the 18th, he hit a 4-iron that missed the green, then chipped to 4 feet and made the putt.
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Canucks 2 Flames 1 VANCOUVER — If the Calgary Flames were looking to provoke Vancouver head coach John Tortorella into losing his cool again, this time he wasn’t taking the bait. Defenceman Yannick Weber scored the goahead goal early in the third period and the Canucks breathed a sigh of relief with a 2-1 win on Saturday night. It was the first meeting between the teams since a fierce line brawl broke out two seconds into a game on Jan. 18 that saw 150 penalty minutes assessed. Tortorella had a meltdown that night and went after Flames head coach Bob Hartley by storming Calgary’s locker-room during intermission. Tortorella, furious at Hartley for icing his fourth line to start the game, served a 15-day suspension and the struggling Canucks have been in free fall ever since. Hartley started tough guy Brian McGrattan again on Saturday night, but this time the gloves stayed mostly on. “We didn’t even talk about it in our locker room,” Tortorella said of Hartley’s starting line. “We needed to play. We have to scratch, claw and grind and find pints anyway possible.” Darren Archibald also scored for the struggling Canucks, who snapped a four game slide and came into Saturday as losers of 11 of their last 12 games, including Thursday’s dispiriting 6-1 drubbing in Texas that defenceman Kevin Bieksa called “rock bottom” for the team. McGrattan had the only goal for Calgary, which had won its last two and three of its last five games. The teams played nice until six minutes into the game when Vancouver’s Bieksa got the better of Calgary’s Mark Giordano with a mean right hand
after the two dropped gloves. Giordano headed to the dressing room after, but returned later in the period. “I could tell that Gio was good,” said Hartley. “It was just a gash that needed to be fixed.” The Canucks had their chances early, including a 2-on-1 against Flames goalie Joni Ortio, but David Booth fired the puck wide to keep his goal drought intact. Booth hasn’t scored since Dec. 17. The absence of Canucks stalwart goalie Roberto Luongo — traded on Tuesday to Florida — was sharply felt at 2:13 of the second when a harmless looking slap shot by McGrattan near centre ice somehow eluded new No. 1 Eddie Lack. The crowd groaned and Tortorella shook his head in disbelief. “I just wanted to throw one on net. I was at the end of my shift and fortunately it went in,” said McGrattan. “It was a muck and grind game. A lot of sloppy plays at both ends.” Lack says he didn’t let the bad goal take him mentally out of the game. “I am just telling myself to get going again, and try to focus on the next save,” he said. “And the guys got a goal really quick and that took the pressure off.”
charge during a 17-2 run that gave Minnesota a 50-48 lead. DeRozan and Ross both went to the bench early in the third quarter when they each picked up their fourth fouls and that’s when Lowry took over. He was tenacious in his attack, hitting two jumpers and feeding Vasquez for a 3 to put Toronto up 75-68. He also played a big role in getting Wolves point guards Ricky Rubio and J.J. Barea in foul trouble with his aggressive penetration. “We needed all of his assists. He did a good job getting in there, penetrating, finding people,” Casey said. “We needed all his rebounds, especially with the way they crash the boards. He just had an all-around game.”
Dickey pitches five shutout innings for Jays but Astros rally late for win
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But Lowry drilled a 3-pointer, the Raptors locked down with the kind of defence that has gotten them this far and DeRozan finished the Wolves off with a 3-pointer from the left wing to improve Toronto to 26-2 when leading after three quarters. “Twenty games left, anything can happen,” Love said. “We obviously have to go on some sort of a run. But if those other teams keep winning and pulling games out of their you-knowwhat, we’re in trouble.” When Love sat down for a rest in the second quarter, the Raptors blasted Minnesota with a 15-0 run to take a 4633 lead. Love ended the run with a jumper, fed Pekovic three straight times with pinpoint entry passes and also drew a