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INDIANAPOLIS - It was just before 2pm local time when the Raptors landed on game-day, five hours prior to tipoff and 38 hours after they were originally scheduled to touchdown in Indianapolis. Harrison Butker Womens Jersey . Creatures of habit, the Raptors were expecting to fly out after their previous game - a hard-fought loss in Miami on Sunday - practice on Monday and shoot around ahead of an already daunting match-up with the league-best Pacers, a team they had defeated at home a week earlier. Instead, Mother Nature threw them a curveball and they had no choice but to adjust. A major snowstorm and frigid temperatures in Indianapolis resulted in the altered itinerary, a reasonable excuse for a team that has vowed to stop making excuses, and to their credit they refused to take the bait. "We can have all the excuses in the world, but in a game like this you have to man up and bring it," Dwane Casey said after his road-weary club dropped Tuesdays sluggish rematch with the Pacers 86-79 in snow-covered Indianapolis. "Its a mans league. I expected us to have a little bit of a hangover with the bullcrap with the travel but I thought we put ourselves in a position to win. Now weve got to close the deal." Not one Raptor player would use the teams travel nightmare as justification for the loss; they would barely even acknowledge it in the visitors locker room post-game. It was the type of easy out they used to fall back on, almost routinely. This time they did what winning teams do. They owned it. "[We] had the opportunity, but didnt make shots," said Kyle Lowry, who had 16 points to go along with just two dimes, his lowest assist total since November 11th. "They beat us. We were a little bit off, schedule off, routine, but still had a chance to win, so cant really say it messed us up too much." The loss was just their fifth in 15 games since the trade, dropping a game below the .500 mark. "We came out a little sluggish, had a couple turnovers at the beginning, shots werent falling for us and we got out-rebounded," said Amir Johnson, coming off his worst outing of the season. "Theres your ball game." More often than not, the Raptors were a step slow against a team that prides itself on pounding opponents into submission, especially at home, where theyve suffered just one loss. Toronto was out of sync, looking nothing like the club that stunned the Pacers at the Air Canada Centre last week. The Raptors managed just 18 assists, failing to reach 20 dimes for only the fourth time in the last 15 games. They were out-rebounded by 17 and bested by 14 in the paint, 11 in second-chance points. True to character they nearly made something out of nothing, cutting their deficit - once as big as 17 - to six down the stretch before eventually succumbing to the home teams punishing brand of basketball. "Guys were just a little bit off from their rhythm," Lowry said. "Not making shots, just the timing of everything was just a little off tonight." DeMar DeRozan scored the teams final 17 of the third quarter and finished with 28 and Patrick Patterson - playing in place of Johnson - had 11 of his 20 points in the fourth. Johnson was not himself, finishing scoreless on five attempts in just over 20 minutes of action. Battling a cold on top of the travel snafus, the Raptors forward struggled through fatigue, looking out of breath on a couple of occasions in the first half. With Patterson playing well, Casey opted to ride the hot hand and sit Johnson in the fourth. Jonas Valanciunas also had an off night, held to just four points in 32 minutes and outplayed by Pacers centre Roy Hibbert on both ends of the floor. The team checked in and out of its Miami hotel three times before eventually taking off for Indianapolis at 11:30am Tuesday morning. There, they spent less than an hour at the hotel before boarding three busses to Bankers Life Fieldhouse, skipping shoot around and putting a dent into most of their game-day routine. "Youve just got to get your body going," Johnson said before the game. "After sitting down for a couple of hours, youve got to [stay active]." "Adversity sometimes comes in different ways," Casey said. "Its a good character builder for us. You hate to be against the best team in the conference but it is what it is." Daeshon Hall Panthers Jersey . -- Sonny Grays fastball wasnt as sharp as it usually is, and the Oakland Athletics young pitcher even had a quirky replay go against him. Christian McCaffrey Womens Jersey . And theyre pointing to the NHLs biggest market: Toronto. With Gretzky paid out for what is believed to be $7 to 8 million, Gretzky may be eager to get back into the NHL and TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger reports that the Maple Leafs are very much interested in The Great Ones services. http://www.thepanthersofficialstore.com/authentic-...rs-jers ey/ . The 25-year-old native of Milford, Conn., has 18 points in 41 games this season. The five-foot-eight 166-pound centre also has 28 points (10-18) in 15 games with AHL Oklahoma City.Toronto - Toronto FC and the Columbus Crew will square off at BMO Field on Saturday in the second Trillium Cup match of the season. TFC was victorious in the first meeting between the two sides with a 2-0 win at Columbus, but the result sparked a run of three straight defeats for the Canadian club. You can catch all the action on TSN and TSN Radio 1050 beginning at 5pm et/2pm pt. The Reds appear to back in form though, managing four points from their last two league matches. They most recently came back twice to get a point form a 2-2 draw at Sporting Kansas City. It was a tremendous point for Toronto given that the team was without several key players due to international duty. The Reds were also reduced to 10 men in the match as Steven Caldwell was issued a straight red card in the 63rd minute. "We had three of our starting midfield out, so we had a lot of absences," TFC head coach Ryan Nelsen said after the match. "We had three starting players out in three different positions and (SKC) had two out. So everybodys made (a deal) about their injuries and weve got a few out as well. Since the start of the season weve only had to pick a starting 11, the actual starting 11, once." Toronto will look to get Gilberto going this season. He has logged 10 consecutive starts but is still searching for his first goal with the club. "Weve got to pick (Gilberto) up," Nelsen said. "Weve all been through it as players and weve all been through it inn jobs. Harrison Butker Panthers Jersey . And when you move to a new country like that its very difficult, and we forget hes only 24. "We know how good of a player he is and its our job to pick him up and obviously get his confidence up and get him going and it will. Maybe we could get a penalty one of these days and he can get on the scoreboard." Like Toronto, Columbus has taken four points from its last two games. After an enthralling 3-3 draw with the Portland Timbers, the Crew ran out to a 2-0 home victory over the Chicago Fire to put an end to an eight-match winless run. "I think weve been frustrated that weve been playing well and not getting the results. Were still trying to focus on the product were creating and how were playing," said Crew head coach Gregg Berhalter. "Its nice when you get results. From that standpoint were happy. I think it was a good effort. Obviously were missing some guys but we did a great job." Federico Higuain played a starring role the Crews defeat of the Fire, but the striker will miss Saturdays clash at Toronto due to yellow card accumulation. "You dont replace Federico, simple as that. We get someone on the field that can play their game and were not going to ask someone to come in and play like Federico that would be foolish of us," said Berhalter. "Were going to ask someone to come in and play to the best of their ability. Im confident that we are going to be able to get that out of someone." Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '
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