12-25-2019, 06:34 AM
DENVER -- Toronto coach Dwane Casey wasnt ready to celebrate after the Raptors ended a decade-long drought in Denver. He was too upset about his teams lacklustre finish. DeMar DeRozan scored 19 points, Terrence Ross had 18 and Toronto, after opening a 25-point lead, settled for a 100-90 victory over the Nuggets on Friday night. "We will take the W, but it was not a quality finish," Casey said. "I let the players know I was disappointed in the close. You cant come in and feel like you have the game won with a 20-point lead. You have to continue to execute, be strong with the ball and continue to execute defensively if you want to be serious about winning in this league." Jonas Valanciunas and Kyle Lowry added 13 points apiece for the Raptors, who snapped a nine-game losing streak in the Mile High City dating to 2003. Still, Caseys postgame critique on his teams fourth-quarter play -- the Raptors were outscored 20-14 in the period -- outweighed any sense of relief over the end of the streak. "We have to finish a lot better," Lowry said. "This is the NBA. Teams are going to make a run. Were not going to be negative. We won the game. But we have to finish better than that." The Nuggets were dealing with their own problems. They announced during the game that guard Nate Robinson had season-ending surgery earlier Friday to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. Robinson was injured in a spill underneath the Nuggets basket during the first quarter of Wednesday nights loss to the Charlotte Bobcats. The Nuggets also were without leading scorer Ty Lawson, who missed his second consecutive game Friday with a left rotator cuff strain. "We dont want anybody to feel sorry for us and we wont feel sorry for ourselves," Nuggets coach Brian Shaw said. "We just have to continue to fight, stay positive, keep working and just be more fundamentally sound." J.J. Hickson and Evan Fournier led the Nuggets with 18 points apiece. Hickson also had 13 rebounds. Randy Foye, normally a shooting guard switched to the point in the absence of Lawson and Robinson, had 10 points and a career-high 16 assists. But he also committed eight of the Nuggets 26 turnovers, which led to 29 points for Toronto. "Randy played 43 minutes, Evan 38 minutes, and theyre not accustomed to playing that many minutes as well," Shaw said. "They started getting tired, then we started losing our fundamentals and throwing the ball all over the place. That was our biggest thing tonight." Hickson said it is also going to take some time for players to adjust to new, sometimes unfamiliar roles thrust on them by the backcourt injuries. "Its going to be a process," Hickson said. "I cant say its going to be a long process, because we dont have much time. It has to be a quick process. But I think once guys get adjusted and settled in, well be good." Toronto moved to a season high four games above .500 (25-21) and tied a franchise record with its 11th win in January. The Raptors also won 11 games in January 2002. Leading by seven at halftime, the Raptors put together an 11-2 run late in the third quarter to go up 84-68 with 2:46 left in the period. DeRozan ignited the surge by driving through traffic and putting in a reverse layup off the glass and helped keep it going by knocking down a pair of jumpers. By the start of the fourth quarter, the Raptors led by 16 points and 50 seconds later, Valanciunas dunked to stretch Torontos advantage to 90-70. After Timofey Mozgov scored on a turnaround jumper for Denver, Toronto reeled off seven straight points, including a 3-pointer by John Salmons for a 97-72 lead with 8:47 left. The Nuggets made a late push with a 14-2 run cutting it to 99-86 on a dunk by Kenneth Faried with 3:32 remaining. But Ross then blocked Fourniers driving layup attempt and after Valanciunas made one of two free throws, the Nuggets lost another possession on a turnover by Foye, failing to get the deficit under double digits. The Raptors turned a steal into a breakaway dunk by Ross for a 60-53 lead at halftime. The rim-rattling jam brought the Raptors bench to its feet. NOTES: Foye had 11 assists in the first half, most by a Nuggets player in a half since Steve Blake had 11 on Feb. 14, 2007. ... Toronto won for the first time in Denver since an 81-74 victory on Dec. 30, 2003. ... Hickson has had a double-double in 12 of his last 23 games. Wholesale Bruins Jerseys . -- Victor Bernardez tied the game with his second goal in the 95th minute and the San Jose Earthquakes drew 3-3 with Real Salt Lake on Saturday night. Custom Boston Bruins Jerseys . Dragic was a game-time decision because of a sore right ankle that had kept him out of Wednesdays loss at Utah, but played all but the last 10 seconds of the second half in the first 40-point game for a Phoenix player since Amare Stoudemires 44 on March 19, 2010. https://www.cheapbruins.com/ . Damyean Dotson, 19, Dominic Artis, 19 and Brandon Austin, 18, were suspended after the school received a police report concerning allegations made by a student who said she was assaulted by the players in early March. Boston Bruins Pro Shop . -- The way Ted Ligety carved into turns looked so easy. Stitched Bruins Jerseys . Jacob Jacques, Andrew Ryan and Jonathan Drouin also scored for Halifax (37-18-3), who outshot the Islanders 40-26. Kevin Darveau stopped 25 shots. Bradley Kennedy had the lone goal for Charlottetown (18-33-5), which has nine losses in its last 10 games.ST. LOUIS -- Allen Craig is starting to feel comfortable and the St. Louis Cardinals are hoping that continues for a long time. Craig, batting cleanup, had three hits, drove in a run and scored twice and Lance Lynn allowed two runs over seven innings to lead the Cardinals to a 5-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Friday night. After batting.315 with 97 RBIs in 134 games in 2013, Craig has struggled to find his stroke. He was hitting .192 on April 29, but his average has risen slowly but steadily since. He was up to .231 after Fridays game. Craig said he is feeling better and better at the plate, even if the results have not been readily apparent. "Guys know when theyre feeling good in the box," Craig said. "The results may not be there, but you can still feel good and feel like good things are going to happen. Its just a matter of time and being patient. I feel like Im at that point." Nevertheless, Craig was happy with the multihit game. "Im definitely excited because I dont take success for granted," Craig said. "This games tough and a lot goes into having a good game." Lynn (5-2) allowed seven hits walked two and struck out three. He seemed to get stronger as the game went on. "It was just one of those things where everything clicked and all of a sudden I was throwing the ball where I wanted to," Lynn said. "I was throwing the ball in the strike zone and when that happens, its fun to pitch." Carlos Martinez retired the Braves on four pitches in the eighth and Trevor Rosenthal set down the side in order for his 12th save in 13 opportunities. Matt Carpenter and Kolten Wong had two hits each and scored a run for St. Louis. Matt Holiday, Matt Adams and Yadier Molina all drove in a run for the Cardinals. St. Louis finished the game without manager Mike Matheny and centre fielder Peter Bourjos, both of whom were ejected by home plate umpire Sean Barber at the end of the fourth inning for arguing balls and strikes. "I loved to see the fire and the fight that Peter showed there," Matheny said.dddddddddddd "Frustrated and knew a couple of pitches didnt get called to what he thought was the strike zone in big situations. You cant take the emotions out of these guys." The Braves Chris Johnson went 2 for 4 with a run scored. Johnson is batting .377 (20 for 53) in May. While Johnson has been hot, his teammates have not. The Braves, who have lost 11 of 16, were held to two or fewer runs for the 18th time. "We get one or even two guys hot and theyre so far apart in the lineup that we dont get it going," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "Sooner or later well start swinging like were capable of." Ervin Santana (4-1) took his first loss as a member of the Braves. Santana lasted five innings and allowed five runs and 10 hits with one walk and three strikeouts. St. Louis broke open a 2-2 tie by scoring three times in the fifth. With one out, Carpenter and Wong singled. Holliday followed with an RBI double down the right field line to score Carpenter. Wong scored on Craigs single to left and Molina made it 5-2 with a sacrifice fly. The Braves took a 1-0 lead in the second on a two-out RBI single by Tyler Pastornicky, but the Cardinals tied it in the bottom of the inning on Adams RBI double. After the Braves took a 2-1 lead in the fourth on Andrelton Simmons 6-4-3 double play ball, the Cardinals tied it in the bottom of the frame when Craig scored from third on Santanas wild pitch with two outs. NOTES: Jhonny Peralta stole second in the fourth inning for his first stolen base as a member of the Cardinals. ... Santana had two wild pitches, giving him a total of five, one behind Arizonas Wade Miley for the most in the National League. ... Atlantas Aaron Harang (4-3) will oppose Shelby Miller (5-2) in the second game of the series Saturday. ... Friday was the first time that Santana has allowed five or more earned runs since Aug. 9, 2013, in a 9-6 win over Boston when he was with Kansas City. ' ' '