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(SportsNetwork. Joe Maddon Authentic .com) - The Raptors continued to roll with Tuesdays 103-93 victory at Washington thanks to Kyle Lowrys 24 points and 10 assists. "I just was getting more looks, trying to attack a little more," said Lowry. "That first game out of the break is always tough and I didnt want to let that be an excuse for us to lose the game." DeMar DeRozan, Amir Johnson and Greivis Vasquez scored 14 points apiece, and both Patrick Patterson and Jonas Valanciunas netted 10. The Raptors made 42- of-74 shots (56.8 percent) and have won three straight and nine of the last 13 contests. Toronto now leads the Atlantic Division by four games ahead of Brooklyn and will open a three-game homestand Wednesday versus Chicago, Cleveland and Orlando. The Raptors have won three in a row at home and are 14-10 at Air Canada Centre. Since Jan. 1, the Dinos are 9-2 as the host. However, Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau deserves a lot of credit for keeping his team competitive through the course of the season. Thibodeau hopes that success carries over in the post All-Star break schedule, starting with Wednesdays road matchup in Toronto. The Bulls and Raptors are jockeying for playoff positioning in the Eastern Conference, as Chicago sits fourth in the standings -- 1 1/2 games behind Toronto. Chicago, which has dealt with a litany of injuries, including the loss of guard Derrick Rose, headed to the break with three straight wins and a 15-7 record since Jan. 2. In last Thursdays 92-76 triumph over the Brooklyn Nets, a 10-point advantage (29-19) after the first quarter set the tone and the Bulls later scored a 23-15 edge in the final stanza. Taj Gibson, who was filling in for Carlos Boozer in the starting lineup, led the way with 16 points off the bench. Boozer had missed three straight games with a calf injury and returned to post 15 points and 10 rebounds. Mike Dunleavy, Jimmy Butler and All-Star Joakim Noah all scored 14 points with Noah grabbing 13 rebounds. "We have to look at our team in totality. For us to achieve, we need Carlos to play well. With our depth up front, we have three starters and they all have to sacrifice," Tom Thibodeau. Noah has pulled down 10 or more rebounds in 23 of his last 24 games, and tallied eight points, five boards and five assists in the All-Star Game. "I had a great time. Im a little tired, but theres time to rest," Noah said of All-Star weekend. "The court is always the best part. It always feels good to win no matter what situation. I like competing. It was fun." The Bulls are last in the NBA offensively with 92.3 ppg, but are second in opponents scoring at 92.3 ppg. Opposing teams are shooting just 43.4 percent against the Bulls, who are 12-15 on the road and recently went 3-3 on a recent trip. Meanwhile, East teams have a 5-10 record north of the border this season. The Raptors have won twice in three meetings with Chicago this season, but dropped a 96-80 decision at home back on Nov. 15. The Bulls have won nine of the past 14 overall matchups in this series and are 13-6 in the previous 19 trips to Air Canada Centre. Joe Maddon Blue Jersey .Y. -- Marcos Ambrose should be on pins and needles but says hes not. Matt Joyce Authentic . More than a month after signing the free agent centre, Bynum is expected to make his debut with Indiana on Tuesday night against Boston.VANCOUVER - Eddie Lack helped the Vancouver Canucks overcome a case of the blues Wednesday night. Lack made 20 saves for his third shutout of the season as the Canucks blanked the St. Louis Blues 1-0 in the first post-Olympic game for both teams night. The win was like sweet music to the Canucks (28-24-9) as they ended their losing streak at seven games while moving into sole possession of eighth place in the Western Conference. The Blues (39-13-6) dropped their third straight decision to Vancouver this season as they were shut out for the first time in 2013-14. "It feels very good to be able to shut the door," said Lack. "It was very big for our team. "Its a big relief." The Canucks outshot the Blues 35-20, but Lack, Vancouvers backup who is in his first full NHL season, was forced to make many difficult saves. "I feel like I have been working on this start for a while and I was really excited to play, and Rollie (Melanson, Vancouvers goalie coach) has been bugging me for weeks saying we need to win these 1-0 games, so its huge," said Lack. Jannik Hansen scored the games only goal as he finally broke a scoreless deadlock at 11:13 of the third period. He took a backhand stretch pass from Tom Sestito from deep in the Vancouver zone just past centre ice, raced in on a breakaway and beat Halak with a high shot. It was Hansens first goal in just over a month, a span of eight games, after he last scored Jan. 26 against Phoenix. "Great play by Tommy, he could see I was taking off a little early and he fed me a nice pass, and I was able to get it through the goalie," said Hansen. "You dont have to look at the standings very long to see we need to win a lot of games here to make the playoffs, and its obviously a very strong opponent today, a playoff team. These are the teams you have to beat. We cant just beat the teams below us." Vancouver was blanked on four power plays while St. Louis failed to score on three. Lack drew the start after backstopping the Canucks to a pair of wins over St. Louis earlier this season. Three of his nine wins have come against the Blues, and he has allowed only three goals to them. The Canucks came out with the added aggression that coach John Tortorella has been seeking as they outshot the Blues 14-6 in the first period. But for most of the night, the hosts could not beat a steady Halak, who felt fresh after playing just two games for Slovakia in the Olympics and getting plenty of rest after arriving back in St. Louis last Thursday. "It was a pretty good pace for 60 minutes," said Halak. "It was just that we came up short. We couldnt score. "I tried to do my best. I tried to give the guys a chance to win. Id like to get (Hansens goal) back." St. Louis had nine players in Sochi and the Canucks hhad seven. Desmond Jennings Authentic. But Blues coach Ken Hitchcock, who served as an assistant with Canadas gold-medal-winning team, did not think post-Olympic fatigue was a factor. "It was a hard fought, well played game for the most part," said Hitchcock. "I didnt think we had the energy in the third period than we did in the end of the first and the second. We had a great second period. But weve had trouble beating (Lack.) We havent scored on him, and hes made some big saves and hes won a lot of the scrambles. We had all the penetration in the second period for all the scoring chances." Hitchcock lamented his teams inability to score on odd-man rushes in two losses in Vancouver this season. "When you get two-on-ones and three-on-ones on the road, youve got to capitalize," he said. "I think that was the difference in the hockey game." Lacks best moments came late in the second period as he denied Blues captain David Backes on a one-timer during a delayed penalty and Alex Steen on a deflection, and got his pad on a T.J. Oshie shot before defenceman Alex Edler blocked the puck as he attempted to put in the rebound. After the save, fans chanted "Eddie! Eddie!" But Oshie, who played for the U.S. in the Olympics, was not willing to give Lack too much credit. "He made some good saves, but I dont think we really tested him like we could have," said Oshie. "We let him see a lot of pucks." There was no denying Vancouvers desperation though. "Theyre a desperate team right now," said Halak. "For them, every game is a playoff game. They need to get every point that they can." Notes: Olympians from both teams were honoured in a pre-game ceremony. Blues defencemen Jay Bouwmeester and Alex Pietrangelo drew loud cheers from the crowd when they were saluted, along with Canucks defenceman Dan Hamhuis and goaltender Roberto Luongo, for helping Canada win the 2014 Olympic gold medal. … Tortorella worked his first home game since receiving a six-game suspension for storming the Calgary Flames dressing room area Jan. 18. … Canucks captain Henrik Sedin returned to action after suffering an undisclosed injury before the Olympics. He missed the past two practices while tending to a personal matter in Sweden, but returned Wednesday in time for the game. Defenceman Kevin Bieksa returned after missing five games before the Olympic break with a foot injury. … Vancouver centre Ryan Kesler sat out with a hand injury suffered while playing for the U.S. in the Olympics. Canucks defencemen Chris Tanev (thumb) and Andrew Alberts (concussion) remained out. … Blues defenceman Jordan Leopold missed the game due to an ankle injury. He was replaced by Carlo Colaiacovo. cheap nfl jerseys cheap jerseys ' ' ' |
