"It is really difficult to pass

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TORONTO - There was a feeling of restrained joy in the Raptors locker room Wednesday evening. Amir Johnson video-bombed a teammate during their post-game scrum, a semi-regular occurrence in Torontos dressing room following a win. Rudy Gay showed off his best Johnson impression. Players cracked joked and debated where they were headed for a late bite to eat. They were 1-0, undefeated after a gritty 93-87 opening night win over Boston. They were in good spirits, understandably, but they were not celebrating. Dwane Casey would never allow a celebration. They just barely stole the victory in their season opener and with each glance toward the white board, located on the front wall of the room, they were reminded that theres a long way to go. "81 more!" was written with an exclamation mark in the centre of the board. "One game at a time," Gay said, referring to the significance of that board. Not the first athlete to utter those words but given their increasingly difficult early-season schedule the cliche does apply. "We have 81 more but we have to take it one game at a time," he continued. "Were just trying to get [off to] a good start and [build] a cushion because theres going to be times where you cant find a win but we want to prepare for that by getting these wins in the beginning." This isnt the way they envisioned their first win of the young season but the rust they displayed was not a big surprise to Casey or his players. "It was a grind," said DeMar DeRozan, who struggled in the victory scoring 13 points on 6-of-19 shooting. "We were rusty but we just went out there and tried to play hard, tried to scramble as much as we [could] and fight it out." Four of Torontos five starters played over 30 minutes (Johnson battled foul trouble and played 24), the first time theyve logged that much playing time after resting in the fourth quarter of all seven preseason games. Accordingly, the team strung together some great moments - holding Boston to 11 second-quarter points - along with some stretches theyll likely hear about in practice Thursday, including a 34-point third quarter for the Celtics. "[It was the] first game of the season, first real minutes weve played all season," said Gay, who scored seven of his team-high 19 points in the final minutes to help seal the win. "I think we did pretty good. We were a little rusty in the beginning, shook the rust off, they came back and we closed the game. Its all about Ws in this league." Grinding it out Much of the discussion in camp focused on rising above adversity and grinding out close games, things the team didnt do especially well last season. Toronto will face stiffer competition and tougher tests than the young Celtics but to Bostons credit they hung around - as they will do throughout the season despite their lacklustre offence - and fought their way back from a 16-point third-quarter deficit. A Brandon Bass buzzer-beating dunk tied the game going into the fourth and the Celtics would take a three-point lead on a Jeff Green three pointer shortly after. Tied again at 78 with 7:41 remaining, the Raptors ripped off a 12-2 run led by Gay and Johnson, each of them scoring five during that stretch. "A lot of times last year when a team [came] back or a team [made] that run we kind of let that get the best of us," DeRozan said. "We [understood] they were going to come out and make a strong run we just had to sustain that the best way we could, and we did." Work in Progress Although the gritty performance matched the identity Casey wants this group to uphold, the Raptors coach knows his team was lucky to come away with the win given their aforementioned early-season rust. Boston scored 25 of their 87 points off 18 Toronto turnovers, the Raptors registered just 15 assists, made 12 of their 23 free-throw attempts and allowed the Celtics to shoot 49 per cent from the field. "We have a lot of work [to do] defensively," Casey said. "Thats not who we are, thats not we have to stand for. I thought we grinded it out when it got tough. They made their run and like I said at halftime, a team worth their salt in the NBA is going to make their run, and they did. I like the way our guys bounced back but we should never put ourselves in that hole." Stagnant down the Stretch Torontos 15 assists are indicative of the teams lack of ball movement, especially late in the game when they relied heavily on isolation sets, settling for a series of difficult shots. "Too many one-hand passes [and] too much one-on-one," Casey said of the teams late-game offence. "A good defensive team is going to shut that out. Weve got to get that ball moving and we had been doing a good job but for whatever reason in the fourth quarter we got standing." Gay and DeRozan were the primary culprits in that department. "Shot selection was little tough today," Gay admitted. "They forced us into some tough shots but again, its the first game. Well get better at that." Rough Night for the Guards Both DeRozan and point guard Kyle Lowry had rough shooting nights in Wednesdays season debut, the backcourt duo combining to shoot 8-for-27 from the field. DeRozan was suffocated by a trio of larger, veteran defenders - Green, Gerald Wallace and Courtney Lee - and was routinely double teamed in the post, where he had excelled in the exhibition season. Uncharacteristically, DeRozan only got to the line twice and missed both shots. "They did a good job of sending people to him," Casey said of the coverage on DeRozan. "Anytime he drove in there he drew a crowd. What weve got to do now is find a draw and kick combination with him because hes got their respect now. Lowry had 11 points and a promising eight assists but shot just 2-of-8 from the floor, 0-of-3 from three-point range and 7-of-12 at the line. The point guard was playing in his first game with the protective splint wrapped around his injured left ring finger, which hell require for the first six weeks of the season. Although Lowrys injury is on his non-shooting hand, the splint is something hes having to get used to playing with. Up Next The Raptors will play six of their next eight games on the road. First up, theyll travel to Atlanta and Milwaukee for a weekend back-to-back on Friday and Saturday respectively. Walter Payton Jersey .com) - The Atlantic Division-leading Toronto Raptors hope to catch a break Sunday in the finale of a three-game homestand, as they host the road-weary Orlando Magic. Walter Payton Throwback Jersey . -- For the first 8 minutes of the Ducks return to Anaheim, coach Bruce Boudreau thought he saw the residual effects of an eight-game, 15-day road trip. http://www.bearsjerseyauthentic.com/. -- The Washington Capitals awaited word Monday on the severity of Brooks Laichs left knee injury, a setback that comes at a crucial time in the teams hopes for a fifth straight Southeast Division title. Walter Payton Womens Jersey . The Tiger-Cats (10- are preparing for a playoff push after a commanding 37-7 whipping of the Bombers Saturday afternoon. "Ill be shocked if were not ready to play," coach Kent Austin said after the Ticats overcame a slow start to completely dominate the final three quarters. Jared Allen Bears Jersey LOUDON, N.H. -- Ryan Newman used a track-record lap to fuel his run at a championship. Newman set the New Hampshire Motor Speedway qualifying record with a lap of 136.497 mph to win the pole and headline a top 12 loaded with Chase drivers for Sundays race. Chase for the Sprint Cup championship drivers filled 10 of the top 12 spots Friday. Kasey Kahne was second and joins Newman on the front row, Jeff Gordon was third and Kurt Busch fourth for what will be the second Chase race. Joey Logano qualified sixth, Kevin Harvick was eighth, series points leader and last weeks winner Matt Kenseth was ninth, and Greg Biffle starts 10th. Jimmie Johnson is 11th and Kyle Busch 12th. Martin Truex Jr. starts fifth the same week he found out NAPA was dumping sponsorship of his Michael Waltrip Racing No. 56 car after the race-fixing attempts at Richmond earlier this month. "This is definitely not the time of year you want to find out that you really dont have a ride next year," Truex said. "Its going to be tough, but well have to deal with it and figure it out." Truex did qualify for the Chase with NAPA last season, finishing 11th in points, and was in contention for the final Chase wild card berth at Richmond while driving with a broken wrist. He got a new cast this week and still doesnt know if hell need surgery at the end of the season. The Chase moves on Sunday to New Hampshire, where NASCAR has a 13-driver championship field for the first time since the title-deciding format began in 2004. Newman is eighth in the standings, certainly within striking distance of Kenseth.dddddddddddd. He won his second pole of the season and 51st in 432 career Cup races. Newman won from the pole this season at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Newman, who is leaving Stewart-Haas Racing for a 2014 ride with Richard Childress, has three career wins at New Hampshire. "This track is the birthplace of track position," he said. . Having a good pit selection, having all those things weve had to many times before (helps). Last time we were on the pole here, we led a lot of laps and won. Im hoping we can duplicate that again." The rest of the Chase field saw Clint Bowyer start 16th and Dale Earnhardt Jr. 17th. Earnhardt is 13th in the Chase standings and was disgusted on the grid after his poor lap. "The car just hadnt been turning well and the front end is a bit of a handful," he said. NASCAR would love for the talk of the sport to return to racing and the Chase and not the scandal that rocked the sport. NASCAR took the unprecedented step of adding Gordon as a 13th driver and booted Truex from the field. Gordon, a four-time champion, was sixth in Chicago and has four straight top-10 finishes to work his way up to seventh in the standings. "We are in it and we want to show everyone why we are in it," Gordon said. "I think we had the last three races leading into Chicago. We were pretty good, but previously in the season we just have had our struggles. We have had missed opportunities and its hard to always put your finger on what exactly has caused those things." ' ' '