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TORONTO - Stewing in the frustration of a Game 1 loss, DeMar DeRozan imprisoned himself in his room following a disappointing playoff debut on Saturday. His first postseason experience was something he had been dreaming about, something he had been preparing for, but it didnt go as he had planed. Reflecting on what went wrong, DeRozan spent the duration of the evening in solitude. He didnt turn on the television and he didnt speak to any of his friends around the league. He thought about returning to the Air Canada Centre at 1am to get up some shots, but decided against it. He needed to regroup, to recalibrate. The next day he went back to work. "Im a student of the game," said the Raptors All-Star. "I went back, watched the whole game two or three times." Fast forward to Tuesday nights sequel. DeRozan, finally getting into a rhythm, picked up his fifth foul with just over seven minutes remaining the final quarter. After pleading with coach Dwane Casey to keep him in the game, he was wisely subbed out, finding himself on the bench as his team clutched onto an evaporating lead. They had been up by as many as 11, but the Nets were closing in and the sell-out crowd, electric again, was getting deja vu. The Raptors were wilting under the pressure, succumbing to the veteran savvy of a Brooklyn team that owned the fourth quarter three days prior, or so we thought. There was DeRozan, in solitude once again on the bench, head down while his teammates and coaches convened during a timeout. "It was just my competitive spirit," he said. "I was a little frustrated, just calming myself down. I was a little frustrated that I couldnt be out there with my team, especially at that critical moment. Just staying focused." Two minutes later, he re-entered, the game tied at 83. Almost immediately, he drained a 20-foot jumper to put Toronto on top. Moments later, he knocked down a fadeaway, padding the lead. He never looked back. "It was just me taking advantage of the mistakes I made in the first game and not doing the same thing in this game," said DeRozan after leading the Raptors to a 100-95 win, evening their series with Brooklyn at one game apiece. "Its everything that you dream about, especially when you become a professional athlete, [play] at the highest level." After being held to 14 points - failing to make a shot until the third quarter - in the series premiere, the fifth-year guard scored 17 of his game-high 30 points in the final frame Tuesday, hitting four of his five field goal attempts and nine of his 11 free throws. "Im just happy for him because a lot of people said he had a bad game [Saturday]," said Kyle Lowry, who scored eight of his 13 points in the fourth quarter of Game 2. "Every one has a bad game once in awhile. Tonight, he just showed what he can do. He did an unbelievable job of attacking, being aggressive and he got his rhythm going. Once he gets his rhythm going, he is a hard guard." The playoffs, as we know, are about adjustments from one game to the next and, despite another patchy performance through the first 36 minutes, DeRozan gave the Raptors new life in this series, one that few are expecting them to win. DeRozan was far from perfect and neither were the Raptors. After committing 19 turnovers Saturday, Toronto threw the ball away 21 times. They hit just two of 16 attempts from three-point range and had to overcome quiet outings from both Lowry and Terrence Ross, who shot 1-for-8. Perhaps they were fortunate that the Nets looked nothing like the team that thoroughly outplayed them in Game 1. Paul Pierce, Saturdays hero, was just 2-for-11. He didnt make a shot until the fourth quarter, but couldnt recapture last weekends late-game magic, misfiring on a couple wide-open looks from beyond the arc in the final 30 seconds. The win wasnt pretty, but it was one they needed - a hard-fought game resembling the style of basketball Casey expects to see from his team. "Earlier in the year, we wanted to be the Freddy Krueger of the NBA," said Casey. "Not give up, not give in. I think our guys have done that. We won against a very veteran team like Brooklyn and that is very difficult to do because they seem to find a way to challenge you and keep you on your toes. I thought our guys did a good job of making sure they kept the pedal to the metal." "We werent going down 0-2," stated Amir Johnson, who also enjoyed a bounce-back performance, scoring 16 points to go along with nine boards. "We were the desperate team and we had to play desperate. There was no way we were going to lose that game. It was a must-win for us." Now, its a brand new series, a best of five that will shift to Brooklyns Barclays Center for Fridays Game 3 and Sundays Game 4. Despite the statement win, the Raptors are still expecting be overlooked as they head on the road. "For us to go through the struggles and start from the bottom," DeRozan said, sounding awfully like Drake, the teams global ambassador, seated courtside Tuesday, "and work our way up and still dont get the respect we deserve, we understand we still have a long way to go." "We dont want no attention, at all," added Greivis Vasquez, who scored 11 off Torontos bench. "Were fine with that. We let the people talk, but we do the talking on the court and thats just who we are, really. We lost the first game and everyone was talking. Everyone was killing DeMar because he couldnt do anything, now theyre going to love him for a couple more days. Its just basketball, man." "Everyone is doubting us, which is great," Casey said. "We look at their minutes in playoff play, they have a couple Hall of Famers on the team. We are the underdog, but the way our guys competed and fought tonight, I was proud. Now the series starts." Quiet contribution from Fields As practice was letting out on Monday, Vasquez inadvertently let the cat out of the bag; Landry Fields had been involved in the teams preparation for Game 2 and could be used to try and slow down Pierce or Joe Johnson. Sure enough, Fields entered the game in place of John Salmons late in the first quarter. Although 12 Raptors saw the floor in Game 1, Fields was relegated to the bench, where hes spent most of the season. However, the fourth-year forward has stayed ready and has been a reliable source of energy when called upon. Tuesday was no different. Without attempting a single shot, Fields, an active player on both ends of the floor, made an impact with his defence. After Johnson scored 12 points in the third quarter - mostly against DeRozan - Fields held him to just two points in the final period. "Its just human nature, we always talk about who scored the most points, who carried the team," Vasquez pointed out. "Credit to Landry, because he wasnt playing at all and look at what he does. He was the MVP tonight. It wasnt anyone else but him because he didnt score, but he played great defence and that was contagious." Casey tightened his rotation, using just eight players, splitting minutes in the frontcourt amongst Johnson, Jonas Valanciunas and Patrick Patterson The stat(s) - Toronto had a 52-30 advantage on the boards, including a 19-11 edge on the offensive glass. Their 52 rebounds was the most the Raptors have ever tallied in a playoff game. - Valanciunas recorded his second straight double-double in the series - 15 points and 14 rebounds - becoming the first NBA player to total at least 30 points and 30 boards in his first two career playoff games since Ralph Sampson and Sam Perkins in 1985. - DeRozan became the fourth player in Raptors history to score 30 points in a playoff game, joining Vince Carter, Chris Bosh and Antonio Davis. The quote "Weve been here when people just thought you could come to Toronto and get a win," DeRozan said. "Weve been though all that, frustrating seasons and we want everyone to know that when you play against the Toronto Raptors, youre going to have to fight, youre going to have to bring your game." Ryan OReilly Jersey . He managed to save par, and went on to put together his best opening round of the year. Calcavecchia and Wes Short Jr. Joe Mullen Jersey . Rudy Gay made the tying basket in regulation and a 3-pointer in overtime that gave Sacramento the lead for good, and Fredette scored a career-high 24 points to help the Kings beat the Knicks 106-101 on Wednesday night. http://www.cheapbluesjerseys.info/ . Its a blessing and a burden for nine sons of former NHL players who are all expected to be taken in the first four rounds of the draft this weekend. Brett Hull Jersey . Cellino was ordered by a judge to pay a 600,000 euro ($800,000) fine for evading import taxes on a yacht he purchased in the United States and brought to Italy, the ANSA news agency reported. Shayne Corson Jersey . Returning to Davis Cup tennis, Federer cruised past Ilija Bozoljac, winning 6-4, 7-5, 6-2 in less than two hours. Federer faced little challenge from Bozoljac, who served well but still was no match for his Swiss opponent.(SportsNetwork.com) - A pair of 7-4 teams aiming for a third straight victory clash this Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium, where the Baltimore Ravens play host to the San Diego Chargers. Both the Ravens and Chargers have used their back-to-back wins to stay in the hunt in tight division races. Baltimore is tied for second in the AFC North with Pittsburgh and Cleveland as all three clubs trail 7-3-1 Cincinnati, while San Diego is even with Kansas City in the AFC West and a game back of 8-3 Denver. The Ravens will have one fewer day of rest as they were in action last Monday night and knocked off the New Orleans Saints 34-27 behind running back Justin Forsetts career-high 182 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries. Joe Flacco threw for 243 yards and a touchdown, which was caught by wide receiver Steve Smith among his four receptions for 89 yards. Safety Will Hill had an interception he returned 44 yards for a touchdown, while linebacker Elvis Dumervil had two of the clubs four sacks. That was a really special win, Baltimore head coach John Harbaugh said. You are going to have to win a lot of games to make the playoffs in our conference. The Ravens were coming off a bye after having bested Tennessee 21-7 on Nov. 9, while the Chargers dropped three in a row heading into their bye in Week 10. They have since come out with wins over Oakland and St. Louis, topping the Rams in thrilling fashion 27-24 this past Sunday. Quarterback Philip Rivers put the Chargers up by 10 on a 29-yard touchdown pass to wideout Keenan Allen with 8:09 to play, but the Rams came back with a touchdown with 2:04 to go and then moved into position for a game-tying field goal try with a little over a minute to play. However, while trying for a go-ahead score, St. Louis quarterback Shaun Hill was picked off by San Diego safety Marcus Gilchrist just inside the end zone to secure the win. The Chargers defense held Hill to 198 passing yards and recorded two interceptions, while linebacker Andrew Gachkar picked up a fumble caused by defensive tackle Corey Liugets sack and took it 13 yards for a score in the third quarter. They came up big the whole game, Rivers said about his defense. We had some turnovers and some things and we put them in some tough spots. They were awesome. Rivers was 29-of-35 for 291 yards with one touchdown pass while also having an interception returned 99 yards for a score. Allen ended with six catches for 104 yards and running back Ryan Mathews had 105 yards rushing and a score on 12 carries. The Ravens lead the all-time series with the Chargers 5-4, with seven of those nine games taking place in San Diego. The Chargers have lost both of their trips to Baltimore. This game marks the first meeting between the clubs at M&T Stadium since 2006. WHAT TO WATCH FOR The Ravens have been getting solid production from their ground game all season long, but the Chargers big game from their running was a pleasant surprise for a club that ranks 27th on the ground (89.5 yards per game) this season. The 27-year-old Mathews appeared in his second game after missing seven in a row with a knee injury and has posted 175 yards rushing since his return. He averaged a career-besst 8.dddddddddddd.8 yards per carry last game and his 32-yard touchdown run in the third quarter was the longest scoring carry of his career. You never really know how much you miss a guy until he gets back and gets rolling like he did today, because some of those runs today are why he was drafted where he was, and why he is such a big impact player for us. You need a home run sometimes, said Rivers. Forsett has been knocking them out of the park all season as his 5.83 rushing average leads all running backs and he sits third in the NFL with 903 yards on the ground. Forsett is one of only three players in the NFL this season to have at least 65 total yards in every game this season, joining Dallas DeMarco Murray and Antonio Brown of Pittsburgh. The return of Mathews should help Rivers, who failed to throw at least two touchdown passes for only the third time in 10 games this season last weekend. In his past four games versus the Ravens, Rivers has thrown for 1,183 yards with seven touchdowns and two interceptions. Flacco has struggled a bit more in this series, getting picked off three times to five touchdown passes and 771 yards in three games, though he passed for 355 yards in the most recent meeting. That came on Nov. 25, 2012, a 16-13 overtime victory. Flacco will look to challenge a Chargers defense that is ninth in the NFL with 330.1 yards allowed per game and sixth in scoring defense at 19.6 points per game. San Diego has yielded 10 points or fewer three times this season and hasnt done so in four games since 2007. However, the Chargers have yielded at least 23 points in five of their last six. The Ravens rank fifth against the run and though they are giving up 264.6 yards per game through the air, 24 of their 29 sacks this season have come in the past six games. Linebackers Dumervil and Terrell Suggs are leading the charge. Dumervil has 12 1/2 sacks this season, tied for the second most in the NFL and just three shy of a new franchise single-season record. Suggs, meanwhile, has six sacks and has 100 1/2 in his career. Not only will Rivers have to avoid that duo, but hell have a rookie starter under center in Chris Watt. The third-round selection is expected to take the role after San Diego placed its third center on injured reserve this season. Rich Ohrnberger became the latest to have his season end due to a back injury. San Diego lost center Nick Hardwick after Week 1 due to a knee injury and Doug Legursky went down after Week 5 with a knee ailment. OVERALL ANALYSIS The Chargers and Ravens right in the thick of the chase for their respective division crowns and come into this meeting red hot. Baltimore has the luxury of playing at home and with a defense that can get to the quarterback. That will make Mathews a key element as hell need to move the ball to keep the Ravens linebackers honest and Baltimore has had trouble defending quarterbacks who have time to throw. Rivers has had some solid efforts against the Ravens, but working with a rookie center against a talented defense isnt an ideal situation and it is something Baltimore may be able to exploit. 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