Plauderecke » The Raptors couldnt overcome a horrible first

BROOKLYN, N.Y. -- Dwane Casey admitted hed been concerned about his young Raptors team who had zero experience playing in close-out games -- what awaited them with the vastly-experienced Brooklyn Nets, and how theyd react. It turned out, the Toronto coach had good reason to be. The Raptors couldnt overcome a horrible first quarter -- their worst 12 minutes of the series -- en route to a 97-83 loss to Brooklyn Nets on Friday, sending the series back to the Air Canada Centre tied at three games apiece. "Any Game 6, a team is going to come out with a desperate mindset," Casey said. "This team they built to win a championship this year. Theyre going to come out and give you their best shot. . . knew that coming in and tried to warn our team. "Guys who havent been in Game 6 before, its one of the toughest things to do. Again, experience is the best teacher. Now were going into Game 7, its our first time at that. Luckily we have it at home." DeMar DeRozan scored 28 points but got little help from the rest of the Raptors who trailed 34-19 at the end of the first quarter against a Nets team that was facing elimination. Now its down to one game for Toronto to make the second round of the post-season for just the second time in the franchises 19-year history, and a date with the two-time defending NBA champion Miami Heat. "Yeah, its Game 7," Kyle Lowry said. "We all grew up watching Game 7s and want to be a part of Game 7s. Weve still got to go out there and not be too over anxious. Weve still got to go out there and do what we need to do. "Me personally, Im not going to be all amped up. Its going to be a game that we have to go home and win." Theyll clearly need a better effort than they gave Friday. Lowry was the only other Raptor to score in double figures with 11 points. Jonas Valanciunas had nine points and nine rebounds, while Greivis Vasquez added nine points. "We just didnt come out with the competitive nature that we needed tonight," Lowry said. "They did an unbelievable job of forcing their will on the game tonight, but we have to find a way to match that intensity." Deron Williams, playing on a bad ankle for the better part of the second half, led the Nets with 23 points, while Joe Johnson added 17 points, Kevin Garnett finished with 13 and Paul Pierce added 12. "We were at home. Brooklyn. You cant come in here and get a win, not when its like this," said Garnett. "It was all on the line and thats what we did. I had to go into my vintage bag of tricks. Its the same thing in Game 7. Stay aggressive." Coming off victories in Games 4 and 5, the Raptors were outhustled and outplayed by the Nets from the outset Friday, looking much like the fourth-quarter Raptors in Game 5 on Wednesday that coughed up a 26-point lead yet still managed to hold on to win. The Nets -- who assembled an all-star squad this season, trading for Pierce and Garnett with sights set on an NBA title -- played easily their best basketball of this series. "We started the game out with the opposite disposition that we wanted to, I thought they came out in a desperate mode and we didnt," Casey said. "We didnt start to play that way until we got knocked down in the second half. Thats what the playoffs are about, your start probably tells you how youre going to finish. And tonight, they got their foot on the pedal a lot quicker than we did." Toronto trailed by 26 points midway through the third and went into the fourth down 79-59. The Raptors pushed back in the fourth, opening with a 17-7 run to pull within 10 on a three-pointer by Lowry with 5:02 to play. With the fans at the Barclays Center on their feet, Williams drained a three with 1:13 to play that put the Nets up by 13 and secured the victory for Brooklyn. The fans chanted "U-S-A!" as the final seconds ticked down. A grinning Garnett high-fived Jay-Z. DeRozan who, along with starters Jonas Valanciunas and Terrence Ross, had never played in the post-season before this, said the Raptors werent ready for the intensity of a Game 6. "We didnt really realize, we had Brooklyn against the wall and we didnt take advantage of it like we should have," he said. "We should have known they were going to come out throwing haymakers, and we werent ready for it until the second half." Outside the Barclays Center, there were tongue-in-cheek missing person posters taped to posts of Williams, that read: "MISSING Have you seen this person?" above Williams mug shot. Reward was listed as $63,128,400 -- the amount remaining on the point guards contract. Williams showed up Friday, but the Raptors didnt. Despite spraining his left ankle early in the third quarter, Williams made good on 8-of-16 shots from the floor and dominated his matchup with Lowry, who shot 4 for 16. The Nets shot 47 per cent from the field, while the Raptors shot 38 per cent on the night. Toronto was outrebounded 45-42. With the Nets cobbling together their star-studded lineup with its payroll plus taxes of more than US$180 million, experience was a theme early in the series -- Pierce alone had almost as many post-season appearances as the entire Raptors roster prior to Game 1. And it reared its head again Friday with the Raptors response to Game 6. Pierce said he cant wait for Game 7. "Its going to be fun," Pierce said. "This is what the NBA is all about -- these pressure-type moments. These are the types of games that elevate good players to great players. We have so many of them coming up this weekend, its an exciting time, and were going to enjoy it. Its a hostile environment -- win or go home. "Hey, this is the type of situation that I love and want to be in. I love our chances." Casey, however, doesnt believe this loss will affect his teams confidence in its win-or-go home game on Sunday. "To listen to some of this (talk of losing momentum), we may as well not play Game 7," Casey said. "Every game is different and I know our team will bounce back. Weve got to come out of the gates a lot fresher, a lot harder, especially starting on the defensive end of the floor." The sellout crowd of 17,732 included Drake, Beyonce and Jay-Z, Rosie ODonnell, Ellen Pompeo -- Meredith on "Greys Anatomy", New York Giants receiver Mario Manningham, and Brooklyn rapper Fabolous, who announced the Nets lineup. There were numerous pockets of red-clad Raptors fans who stood out against the Nets fans, wearing white T-shirts as part of a giveaway. This series has been drama-filled since Game 1 when Raptors GM Masai Ujiri dropped his famous F-bomb about Brooklyn -- earning him a US$25,000 fine -- and the shot clocks malfunctioned at the Air Canada Centre. There was Drake and his lint roller, and the huge crowds that packed Maple Leaf Square for every game, home and away. Several thousand braved the chilly temperatures again Friday to watch the game on the big screen outside the Air Canada Centre. Nets coach Jason Kidd was fined US$25,000 earlier Friday by the NBA for public criticism of officiating. The New York Daily News back cover photo Friday morning was of the Brooklyn coach, under the headline "Whiny Kidd." When asked about the fine prior to tipoff, Kidd replied: "Fine? Its a beautiful day today isnt it? Did it rain?" The Raptors trailed by double digits less than eight minutes into the game. DeRozan scored 10 points in the first, but got little help from his teammates, and the Raptors trailed 34-19 heading into the second. It was more of the same in the second, a putback layup by Andray Blatche giving the Nets a 21-point advantage with four-and-a-half minutes left in the half. Former Raptor Alan Anderson drained a 17-foot step-back jumper with less than a second on the clock to put the Nets up 60-41 heading into the halftime break. A three-pointer by Pierce gave the Nets a 26-point lead five minutes into the third quarter, and the Nets took a 79-59 lead into the fourth. Wholesale Air Force Ones China . 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. Air Force 1 Cheap Wholesale . Yet coming off consecutive series losses at St. Louis and Pittsburgh, Los Angeles needed some sort of spark as August approaches. The Dodgers found it in the ballpark of their biggest rival, and left the Bay Area in first place following an emphatic three-game swing. http://www.airforce1outlet.com/. There are practical ideas, like this Chewbaca inspired Star Wars jerseys. Star Wars themed jerseys for the Toledo Mud Hens. Air Force 1 Cheap Online . Appearing on TSN 1050 on Tuesday, Sean McAdam of Comcast SportsNet New England reported that the Blue Jays, along with a number of other playoff contenders were in the mix for the Boston ace. Air Force 1 Cheap Outlet . Coming off a 6-0 drubbing at Chelsea on Saturday, Arsenal endured another demoralizing result after rallying for a 2-1 lead -- only to concede a fluke equalizer.MONTREAL -- Montreal may have lost more than just the opening game of the series. With the Rangers already leading 2-0, Carey Price was taken down early in the second period of New Yorks 7-2 pounding of the Canadiens in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final on Saturday afternoon. At 3:15 of the second, winger Chris Kreider blew past defenceman Alexei Emelin in the offensive zone to force a breakaway. Kreider lost his balance as he shot the puck, missed the net, and slid skate-first into the Canadiens netminder. Price spent more than 10 seconds lying on the ice clutching his right leg after the hit, and was visibly shaken when he finally got up. He spoke to a member of Montreals medical staff for several seconds after the play, but remained in the game, giving up two more goals before the second intermission. He watched the third period from the bench. "There was no reason to put Carey back in the third," said Habs coach Michel Therrien. "It was just to protect him. You never want to see your goaltender spread out on the ice. But the fact that he didnt play in the third period is unrelated." Therrien and several Canadiens players were convinced Kreiders hit on Price was accidental. There was no penalty call on the play. "It wasnt really sitting for me, so I had my head down trying to settle the puck," said Kreider, who scored the game-winning goal late in the second period. "I put it wide and somehow lost my footing. I thought maybe someone pressured me from behind. I seem to have an issue staying on my feet on those. "I went in skates-first and I just had too much momentum and couldnt really avoid him. It didnt feel too good for me either." Despite brushing off any injury concerns, Therrien refused to answer whether Price would definitely get the start in Game 2 of the series on Monday. "The fact that he didnt play in the third period was more to protect him than anything," repeated Therrien. "We were not sharp in front of him." "You dont want to see that," added Rene Bourque, who kept the Canadiens in the game with his team-leading fifth goal of the playoffs at 12:38 of the second. "Intentional? I dont think so. Hes our best player. It was scary to see. Hopefully hess all right.dddddddddddd" Price gave up four goals on 20 shots after two periods, including two in less than a minute to end the second period, lowering his post-season save percentage from .926 to .919. The score was 4-1 Rangers at the interval. Montreals frustration showed at the start of the third. The Canadiens took four minor penalties in the first three minutes, and the Rangers welcomed Peter Budaj into the game with three power-play goals on their first four shots. Prior to this one, the Rangers had scored eight goals in their last 10 games at the Bell Centre, dating back to Oct. 2009. And this year, Montreal and New York combined for four goals in three regular-season matchups. But Saturdays game was a real barnburner. The Rangers quieted the sold-out Bell Centre crowd within minutes of the puck drop. Martin St. Louis, after an emotional week during which he lost his mother, opened the score at 4:35 of the first. Mats Zuccarello added another 1:51 later. The Rangers scored twice in 49 seconds to end the second period, and added two more in 25 seconds to open the third. Between the end of the second and start of the final frame, the Rangers scored five times in 5:37, an ignominious post-season record for the five quickest goals allowed by the Canadiens. "Good thing its a seven-game series because we have a chance to get back into it," said Bourque. "We have to be better from the puck drop. We had a little bit of an emotional letdown after the Boston series. We talked about that going into the game. Obviously it didnt click. We have to just forget about this game." This is the 15th playoff meeting between the Canadiens and Rangers. The series is split 7-7. Notes: The Habs have not advanced to the Stanley Cup Final since 1993, when they last hoisted the Cup. a New York coach Alain Vigneault coached Montreal for four seasons between 1997 and 2001. a Henrik Lundqvist has made a team-record 81 consecutive playoff starts for the Rangers. The New York netminder had lost his last four contests at the Bell Centre dating back to March 17, 2009. ... Ryan McDonagh tied a Rangers playoff record with four points in one game by a defenceman. a The Rangers are now 8-2 when scoring first in these playoffs. ' ' '