2:41 left. Lundqvist was sharp early from zgr123's blog
TORONTO - Kyle Lowry laid flat in the centre of the key, hands on his head as he stared straight up at the top of the Air Canada Centre, likely seeing nothing at all, having just missed the biggest shot of his eight-year career. Paul Krause Youth Jersey . Although, technically it was not a shot. With their season on the line, the ball was in Lowrys hands, deservedly so. The clock showed 6.2 seconds as the Raptors inbounded, trailing by only one in the dying moments of a deciding Game 7. Jason Kidd and his Nets team had little doubt the ball would find Lowry. The star point guard caught the pass, with Deron Williams draped all over him, and went straight toward the rim as Kevin Garnett came over to trap. Lowry split the two defenders and floated a shot up at the basket just as Paul Pierce entered the fray in time to block it. As the buzzer sounded, putting an end to Torontos magical season, Lowry - the teams heart and soul - fell to the court. What was going through his head? "Whats not?" he shot back. DeMar DeRozan was the first one to come over. Crouching over the sprawled out Lowry, DeRozan offered up some words of encouragement. "He said, If anyone is taking that shot, Im living and dying with you taking it and trying to get that shot off," Lowry recounted after the Raptors heartbreaking 104-103 Game 7 loss. "It was one of those things, a brotherly moment." DeRozan helped the point guard up and the Raptors two best players walked off the court - Lowry with his jersey over his face - to a rousing ovation from their appreciative fans. "It was big time," Amir Johnson said of the scene. "Just them showing their appreciation, how well we did this season and how hard we worked. So it was a sad moment but bittersweet, I guess." The Raptors couldnt hide their disappointment after falling just short of advancing to the Conference Semifinals Sunday afternoon, it was written all over their faces, but they have no reason to hang their heads. The sellout ACC crowd stood and chanted in salute of their team, the game - however frustrating - served as a good reminder of why. With five minutes left, the Raptors appeared dead in the water. Frustrated and coming undone in the moment, down 10, their season was on life support but, like hes done so many times before, Dr. Lowry refused to let them die. Lowry scored 13 of his game-high 28 points in the final quarter and the Raptors came storming back. That resiliency has been their most admirable quality all year. They had led the NBA in fourth-quarter scoring differential, earning 11 comeback wins, eight more than the season prior. "Were going to fight until our last breath," said DeRozan after scoring 18 points, playing with the flu, as Casey revealed following the game. "Were going to leave it out there, every single thing we have there on the court." "We battled," added Johnson, who recorded his first playoff double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out early in the fourth quarter. "I would go to war with these guys any day and they showed a lot of pride and a lot of heart tonight. We just ran out of time." Lowry and his unwavering resolve have a lot to do with the teams late-game tenacity and so, with their season in the balance, they had no qualms with letting him decide their fate. "That young man did everything he could to get to the basket," Casey said of Lowry on the final possession. It was what they had drew up, Lowry going to the rim, though it was a slight variation of what was intended, with poor spacing that ultimately led to the blocked shot. "He tried to will his way to get that extra point." One point separated the teams Sunday and after 11 meetings - in the regular season and playoffs - Toronto and Brooklyn each scored 1,070 points. The series was as close as they come. "We were right there," Casey pointed out, and if a few calls from another highly critiqued officiating crew went their way they may have pulled it out. But in the end, the Nets were the better team Sunday and that was the case, more often than not, throughout the series. Joe Johnson - the best player on either side over the seven-game span - proved un-guardable again, scoring half of his 26 points in the fourth quarter, while the Raptors youth and inexperience continued to rear its head. Although Terrence Ross turned in his best game of the series, securing the steal that made Torontos final possession possible, the bar had been set low. Fellow sophomore Jonas Valanciunas scored just three points to go along with five rebounds in one of the quietest outings of his brief career. As a team, the Raptors wanted to go further, they believed they were ready and came just one play short of proving it. Even after the loss, with their season now over, the progress theyve made does not go to waste. Three of their starters had never appeared in a playoff game. Only four players on their roster had ever experienced a Game 7, no one has emerged victorious from one. This experience is invaluable and can only serve them well, both individually and as a collective, going forward. "Im proud of our guys," Casey said. "Nobody gave them a snowballs chance in you know where to be here. They competed all year. This group has a lot of stuff in front of them, a lot of basketball in front of them. The organization is in a great spot." "This playoff run is nothing but positive for these young men and anyone that thinks any different doesnt know basketball." John Randle Womens Jersey . -- Jerome Verrier scored once and set up two more as the Drummondville Voltigeurs downed the visiting Chicoutimi Sagueneens 5-1 on Friday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League play. Custom Vikings Jerseys .com) - Demario Richard posted four touchdowns and Kweishi Brown came up with a key late interception as No. NEW YORK -- Sidney Crosby scored his first goal of these playoffs, and Marc-Andre Fleury earned his second shutout of the New York Rangers in two nights as the Pittsburgh Penguins regained home-ice advantage with a 2-0 victory in Game 3 on Monday night. Crosby snapped a 13-game goal drought in the playoffs to give the Penguins the lead in the second period, and Jussi Jokinen added a breakaway goal. Fleury stopped 35 shots to back up his 22-save effort Sunday in a 3-0 win in Pittsburgh. He has eight career post-season shutouts and 51 wins. The Penguins, who lost the opener in overtime, lead the Eastern Conference second round series 2-1. Game 4 is Wednesday in New York. Henrik Lundqvist made 13 saves for the weary Rangers, who played for the fifth time in seven days. They have consecutive losses in these playoffs for the first time. The tide turned in Pittsburghs favour in the second period for the third straight game. Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said earlier Monday that he "hated" the second period in Games 1 and 2, and he couldnt have liked this one, either. New York had 2:15 remaining on a 4-minute power play that began in the first period, but couldnt cash in. To make matters worse for the Rangers, Crosby took a long stretch pass from defenceman Robert Bortuzzo, outraced Marc Staal, and beat Lundqvist between the pads from the left circle just 19 seconds after James Neal left the penalty box. It was Crosbys 41st career playoff goal. Although Crosby didnt score in Game 2, he played a dominant game. "Eventually youre going to see him get a goal," Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said before Game 3. "Eventually youre going to see him break out. Theres no question about that." The Penguins struck for their second goal again right after killing a penalty. Jokinen jumped out of the box and got to a loose puck in the neutral zone after Rangers forward Mats Zuccarello failed to connect on a backward pass in the Pittsburgh end. Jokinen came in alone on Lundqvist and scored his fifth of the playoffs with 4:40 left in the second -- 8 seconds after his penalty ended. Brett Favre Youth Jersey. The Rangers were suddenly down 2-0 and had the weight of their anemic power play enveloping them even more. They finished 0 for 5 and have failed on 34 straight advantages overall -- including one in the final minutes. During their last man-advantage in the second period, the Madison Square Garden crowd implored the Rangers to "Shoot the puck!" They did, but to no avail. New York led 26-14 in shots through two periods, yet trailed by two goals. Zuccarello thought earlier in the second that he had tied the game at 1, but his drive struck the crossbar behind Fleury, skittered across the goal line, and stayed out. The Rangers received their first power play of the night 5:16 in when Marcel Goc was called for roughing Dominic Moore after an icing call. Neal later got a 4-minute power play for hitting Jesper Fast in the mouth with a high stick with 1:45 remaining. Benoit Pouliot had the best chance during the first half of the advantage when he fired a drive off the right post with 14 seconds left in the period. Before that, Zuccarello had the best scoring chance when he one-timed a pass from Pouliot during 5-on-5 play from the left circle that Fleury snagged with a stretch of his glove hand with 2:41 left. Lundqvist was sharp early for the second straight night and turned aside Chris Kunitz on a breakaway, for the second time in as many days, during New Yorks first power play. NOTES: Crosby was nominated as a finalist for the Ted Lindsay Award, given annually to the "Most Outstanding Player" as voted by fellow members of the NHL Players Association. Crosby won the award last season and in 2007. ... The Rangers replaced rugged forwards Daniel Carcillo and Derek Dorsett in the lineup with Fast and J.T. Miller, and put defenceman Raphael Diaz in for the first time in these playoffs. John Moore sat out. ... Lundqvist made his 77th playoff appearance, the most for a Rangers goalie. Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys ChinaCheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys China NFL Cheap Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '
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