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neighbouring locker as DeMar

  • December 20, 2019

    TORONTO - With a mischievous look glued to his face, Kyle Lowry listened intently from the neighbouring locker as DeMar DeRozan spoke with the media after Sunday nights win. Vans Shoes Sale . Making faces in the background and chiming in with the occasional one-liner, Lowry attempted to distract his teammate, to little success. DeRozan was coming off another remarkable performance, scoring an efficient 32 points in Torontos impressive 104-98 bounce-back victory over the Warriors. As the Raptors all-star guard was informed that he had just exceeded 30 points for the fourth time in the last six games, Lowry expressed his admiration, shouting "damn". "Whatever I say about Kyle is an understatement," said DeRozan. "We go off him to be honest, man. Thats a hell of a player right there. Hes the reason why Im getting 30 points." Lowry, still lurking next to the scrum, let out a high-pitched and playful "awwww". This exchange was not unusual. Often following a win, the Raptors backcourt duo can be found sharing a laugh in the locker room but the bond theyve developed is especially beneficial after a loss. Once Dwane Casey has finished addressing his team and the players return to their respective lockers, DeRozan and Lowry will usually break off to discuss the game, what went wrong and how to correct it. Their friendship is not put on and the chemistry that has been built this season, on and off the floor, has a lot to do with their individual and collective success. Lowrys fingerprints are all over DeRozans career year, and vice-versa. Together, they are the leaders of a team that genuinely enjoys going to battle for one another and it showed again on Sunday, as the Raptors toppled a formidable foe in the Warriors. Golden State was responsible for the Raptors lowest point of the season, a 27-point collapse in Oakland at the beginning of December. Toronto has lost only two games all year when leading after three quarters. They blew an 18-point fourth quarter advantage that night. "The way that we lost was definitely tough, we understood that coming into tonight," DeRozan said. "I think all the guys that were here [for it remembers that loss] because it sucks to lose like that." This time, at home and coming off a disappointing triple-overtime defeat, Toronto returned the favour. Trailing by three going into the final frame, the Raptors got 12 points from DeRozan as they outscored Golden State by nine in the fourth and earned their first win over the Warriors in eight tries with Stephen Curry in uniform. The Warriors guards - Curry and Klay Thompson - are the highest scoring backcourt pair in the NBA, with DeRozan and Lowry just behind them. Curry continued to give the Raptors fits, scoring a game-high 34 but Thompson was held to just 12. Playing some of the best basketball of his career over the last couple of weeks, DeRozan needed just 16 shots - hitting 10 - to collect his 32 points, facing an elite wing defender in Andre Iguodala. For the third straight game, the fifth-year guard made at least 12 trips to the free throw line, knocking down 11. Hes also recorded six assists in three consecutive contests, the first time hes done that in his career. "Coming in, I knew he was a good player," said John Salmons, one of DeRozans newest teammates. "I knew he could really score the ball. I knew he was athletic, but from afar, you never know how tough a guy is. He gets the best defensive guy guarding him every night. Guys that are known just for their defence. He still plays at a very high level, so I give him a lot of credit because he does it night in and night out. Thats not easy to do." "Hes growing every single game," said Lowry, who added 13 points and eight assists Sunday. "This season has been a remarkable one for him, hes an all-star. Anything I say about him, vice-versa, its an understatement." More than half of DeRozans 25 career 30-plus point games have come this season (13). Vans Slip On Sale . "Weve given ourselves now a tougher task," said Carlyle after the Friday practice, the Toronto head coach notably chipper and upbeat throughout. "But the bottom line is we just have to win our share of games [and] not worry about what anybody else is doing. Vans Old Skool Grey Sale . UEFA said Wednesday that the champions of England and France only have to include five home-trained players in their 21-man squads next season instead of the expected eight. Only one of the five players needs to be trained by the club itself. MASON, Ohio -- Serena Williams did enough to get a hard-fought victory. Williams earned a sloppy 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 win over Caroline Wozniacki on Saturday to reach the final of the Western & Southern Open. The top-seeded Williams bounced back from losing her first set of the tournament and committing 41 unforced errors, 20 more than Wozniacki, to beat the 12th-seeded Dane for the eighth time in nine career matches. In the first mens semifinal, sixth-seeded David Ferrer earned his first trip to the tournament final in 11 appearances with a 6-3, 6-2 win over unseeded Julien Benneteau. Williams had to shake off a tight lower back before turning her game around, she said. "It was definitely feeling super tight in the match," she said. "Thats when I really relaxed, to be honest. By then I was able just to go for more shots and come to the net more and just kind of just not have anything to lose." She also tried to shorten points with booming serves, leading to getting just 58 per cent of her serves in play. "I just had to go for rockets because I wasnt feeling great," she said. "I thought, Listen, Im going to go out and just try to hit aces and see what happens. It started working for me. I was like, OK. Hopefully my arm will be OK tomorrow. Well see." Williams and Wozniacki both struggled with their serves, leading to a combined 15 service breaks, including the first five games of the third set. Wozniacki was broken in eight of nine service games in one stretch and connecteed on just 54 per cent of her first serves. Cheap Vans SK8. "I didnt get many first serves in," Wozniacki said. "When I did, they werent placed very well. Its frustrating, because you lose a set 6-4 in the third and you only hold serve once. "I actually broke Serena three times in the set. I dont think that happens very often to her either, so, you know, you feel like youre there and my all game was there. "I was fighting. I was running. I was trying to take the ball early. I was returning well. Then my serve comes around and I cant seem to hold serve. Its frustrating thing when youre out there on the court." Williams has never won the championship in five previous appearances. She lost a third-set tiebreaker to Victoria Azarenka last year. Williams will play the winner of Saturday nights match between fifth-seeded Maria Sharapova and ninth-seeded Ana Ivanovic for the championship on Sunday. With the win, Williams also clinched the U.S. Open Series womens title. Williams has won it three of the past four years and will attempt to set another record for the largest payout in tennis history at the U.S. Open -- $4 million ($3 million for winning the U.S. Open and a $1 million bonus for winning the U.S. Open as the series champion). The two-time defending U.S. Open champion won both the U.S. Open Series title and the U.S. Open last year. She is the only woman to win the US Open Series bonus challenge three times (2011, 2013, 2014). No other woman has won it more than once. ' ' '