Kaminzimmer » "Thats usually it, but it

TORONTO - Kyle Lowry laid flat in the centre of the key, hands on his head as he stared straight up at the top of the Air Canada Centre, likely seeing nothing at all, having just missed the biggest shot of his eight-year career. Although, technically it was not a shot. With their season on the line, the ball was in Lowrys hands, deservedly so. The clock showed 6.2 seconds as the Raptors inbounded, trailing by only one in the dying moments of a deciding Game 7. Jason Kidd and his Nets team had little doubt the ball would find Lowry. The star point guard caught the pass, with Deron Williams draped all over him, and went straight toward the rim as Kevin Garnett came over to trap. Lowry split the two defenders and floated a shot up at the basket just as Paul Pierce entered the fray in time to block it. As the buzzer sounded, putting an end to Torontos magical season, Lowry - the teams heart and soul - fell to the court. What was going through his head? "Whats not?" he shot back. DeMar DeRozan was the first one to come over. Crouching over the sprawled out Lowry, DeRozan offered up some words of encouragement. "He said, If anyone is taking that shot, Im living and dying with you taking it and trying to get that shot off," Lowry recounted after the Raptors heartbreaking 104-103 Game 7 loss. "It was one of those things, a brotherly moment." DeRozan helped the point guard up and the Raptors two best players walked off the court - Lowry with his jersey over his face - to a rousing ovation from their appreciative fans. "It was big time," Amir Johnson said of the scene. "Just them showing their appreciation, how well we did this season and how hard we worked. So it was a sad moment but bittersweet, I guess." The Raptors couldnt hide their disappointment after falling just short of advancing to the Conference Semifinals Sunday afternoon, it was written all over their faces, but they have no reason to hang their heads. The sellout ACC crowd stood and chanted in salute of their team, the game - however frustrating - served as a good reminder of why. With five minutes left, the Raptors appeared dead in the water. Frustrated and coming undone in the moment, down 10, their season was on life support but, like hes done so many times before, Dr. Lowry refused to let them die. Lowry scored 13 of his game-high 28 points in the final quarter and the Raptors came storming back. That resiliency has been their most admirable quality all year. They had led the NBA in fourth-quarter scoring differential, earning 11 comeback wins, eight more than the season prior. "Were going to fight until our last breath," said DeRozan after scoring 18 points, playing with the flu, as Casey revealed following the game. "Were going to leave it out there, every single thing we have there on the court." "We battled," added Johnson, who recorded his first playoff double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out early in the fourth quarter. "I would go to war with these guys any day and they showed a lot of pride and a lot of heart tonight. We just ran out of time." Lowry and his unwavering resolve have a lot to do with the teams late-game tenacity and so, with their season in the balance, they had no qualms with letting him decide their fate. "That young man did everything he could to get to the basket," Casey said of Lowry on the final possession. It was what they had drew up, Lowry going to the rim, though it was a slight variation of what was intended, with poor spacing that ultimately led to the blocked shot. "He tried to will his way to get that extra point." One point separated the teams Sunday and after 11 meetings - in the regular season and playoffs - Toronto and Brooklyn each scored 1,070 points. The series was as close as they come. "We were right there," Casey pointed out, and if a few calls from another highly critiqued officiating crew went their way they may have pulled it out. But in the end, the Nets were the better team Sunday and that was the case, more often than not, throughout the series. Joe Johnson - the best player on either side over the seven-game span - proved un-guardable again, scoring half of his 26 points in the fourth quarter, while the Raptors youth and inexperience continued to rear its head. Although Terrence Ross turned in his best game of the series, securing the steal that made Torontos final possession possible, the bar had been set low. Fellow sophomore Jonas Valanciunas scored just three points to go along with five rebounds in one of the quietest outings of his brief career. As a team, the Raptors wanted to go further, they believed they were ready and came just one play short of proving it. Even after the loss, with their season now over, the progress theyve made does not go to waste. Three of their starters had never appeared in a playoff game. Only four players on their roster had ever experienced a Game 7, no one has emerged victorious from one. This experience is invaluable and can only serve them well, both individually and as a collective, going forward. "Im proud of our guys," Casey said. "Nobody gave them a snowballs chance in you know where to be here. They competed all year. This group has a lot of stuff in front of them, a lot of basketball in front of them. The organization is in a great spot." "This playoff run is nothing but positive for these young men and anyone that thinks any different doesnt know basketball." http://www.officialraidersgear.com/Raiders-Howie-Long-Draft-Jersey/ . The Mercedes duo of three-time Canadian Grand Prix champion Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg has won all six races to start the season, finishing one-two in the last five. Kenny Stabler Jersey . If Vettel wins at Suzuka on Sunday, and his nearest rival Fernando Alonso finishes worse than eighth, the German driver will join his compatriot Michael Schumacher and Argentine Juan-Manuel Fangio as the only men to win four consecutive titles. http://www.officialraidersgear.com/Raide...k-Draft-Jersey/. Louis Blues and Buffalo Sabres came to an agreement on a big trade that may only offer incremental improvement to the Blues in their quest for a Stanley Cup. http://www.officialraidersgear.com/Raiders-Lyle-Alzado-Draft-Jersey/ . Howard hit a three-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Philadelphia Phillies to a 6-3 win over the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday night. http://www.officialraidersgear.com/Raiders-Otis-Sistrunk-Draft-Jersey/ . He made that dream a reality Wednesday night. Olt, who grew up in Branford, Connecticut, attended UConn and made a nearly 2 1-2 hour trek to Boston a handful of times to watch the Red Sox, belted a two-run homer, one of four hit by Cubs in a 16-9 rout that completed a three-game interleague series sweep.CORTLAND, N.Y. -- Rex Ryan and the New York Jets are willing to wait a while on picking Mark Sanchez or Geno Smith as the starting quarterback. Not just for the regular season, but for the teams next preseason game Saturday night. "I think its too early to say," Ryan said Tuesday when asked if either is ahead right now. "And just to say, this guy is leading or whatever, again the competition is not complete. I think well go through the competition and Im confident the right decision will be made." As for this weekends home game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, both Ryan and offensive co-ordinator Marty Mornhinweg said there are "variables" involved, including Smiths recovery from a mild ankle sprain. Smith was injured in the teams preseason opener at Detroit last Friday night, but has not missed any practice time. Smith was able to move around the field with only occasional signs of a limp Tuesday. "I appreciate him pushing through that thing," Mornhinweg said. "Now, when youre nicked up, youve got to play well, as well. Otherwise, you might as well be in the doggone training room. And, hes done some good things this week even though hes gimping around just a little bit." Sanchez got the start in the opener, and it was generally expected that Smith would open the game against Jacksonville under centre so the Jets could get a good look at him. Thats not necessarily a given at this point, though, as Sanchez has gotten most of the first-team snaps this week. "There are a lot of variables in that," Mornhinweg said. "Some are depending on health, and some are depending on how they practice and some are depending on the big-picture plan tentatively set up before we started camp." Mornhinwegs comments echoed those of Ryan, who also earlier in the day insisted no decision had been made, and that Smiths health would be considered. The Jets also had two more full days of practice in Cortland before the game, so there was plenty of time to make a call. "Is it a factor? Certainly its a factor," Ryan said of Smiths ankle. "Is it the primary one? I dont know. A lot of factors go into it. Lets get to where we feel good about the decision and its a complete decision." Sanchez is not the most popular player in the eyes of many fans, who have grown impatient with his inconsistent play. Ryan insisted, however, that the potential for boos at home Saturday will "absolutely not" play a factor in the decision. "I certainly hope that we can move past it and we can focus on whats in front of us and give not just Mark, but all of us a fair shake," he said. "This is your football team, but you certainly have a right to do whatever you choose. If you want to boo whoever it is, our fans certainly haave that right.dddddddddddd. To me, yeah, I absolutely hope that doesnt happen. "I hope that everybody is behind us 100 per cent." With the Jets undecided on this weeks starter, it makes sense that the team also is no closer to determining who will be under centre in Week 1 of the regular season against Tampa Bay on Sept. 8. During most quarterback competitions around the NFL, teams will make a decision heading into the third preseason game as most of the starters play into at least the third quarter. But, Ryan indicated theres a chance the Jets could still be waiting to make the call going into that game against the Giants. "We never put a timetable on it," he said. "Thats usually it, but its not set in stone that thats an absolute must, that that has to happen. We may still be in the evaluating stage for all the positions." When the Jets reported for camp in Cortland nearly three weeks ago, Ryan suggested it would be better to have one of the quarterbacks take the lead in the competition "sooner rather than later." There has been no clear-cut choice so far, through one preseason game, and Sanchez and Smith are still very much locked in a tight competition. Sanchez and Smith have both had their ups and downs throughout camp, but neither has been overly impressive. Sanchez started the preseason opener the same way he ended last season, making a maddening mistake as he threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown by Ziggy Ansah. "It cant happen again," Ryan said. "Theres no doubt." Sanchez bounced back in a big way and finished his three possessions with an impressive scoring drive that was capped by a touchdown pass to Jeff Cumberland. "Ive been proud of him on a couple of different occasions," Mornhinweg said of Sanchez, who had a rough start to the teams scrimmage two weeks ago but finished with a touchdown drive. Smith has also impressed the coaches at times, especially with his arm strength and quick rate of picking up the offence -- although he dipped a bit in recent practices. "I think hes certainly had his moments where hes looked great and not just the first week, but he looked good in the game," Ryan said. "He was 6-of-7 passing, so I dont know if thats it. Did he have a couple of rough days? Absolutely, but everybodys had some rough days." Mornhinweg also said he wasnt able to do much of an evaluation on Smith in the first game because he was focused on several aspects of the offence and not just the quarterback play. "He handled the huddle well, all those things," Mornhinweg said. "Probably looking back on it, it was probably a pretty good first experience. He got in, he completed a few balls and now hes got to push through this thing." 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