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a pinch-hitter to lead off the seventh - wh3171 - 11-30-2019
TORONTO - Its been 13 years since the Raptors played in their last and only Game 7, by all accounts the biggest game in franchise history to this point. Yeezy Shoes . Philadelphia-native Kyle Lowry remembers it well. "Hell of a game," recalled Lowry, who was a 15-year-old high schooler when he watched the epic battle between Vince Carter and Allen Iverson, culminating in Carters missed jumper and Torontos Game 7 loss in 2001. "I was a fan back then, of the other team. But it was a great game, a great game." A year earlier, DeMar DeRozan - 10 at the time, growing up in Southern Los Angeles - watched his favourite team, the Lakers, overcome a 15-point deficit to knock off the Trailblazers in the deciding game of the 2000 Conference Finals. To this day, it is still his most memorable Game 7 moment. "I remember watching it," said the Raptors all-star guard. "Even then I remember saying, I wish I was playing in a moment like that, because it just seemed fun, especially when youre doing something you love to do. Thats the highest level of basketball you could play in, man." On Sunday afternoon theyll have the opportunity to write their own story when Toronto hosts the Brooklyn Nets in the finale of their opening-round series. You can catch all of the action live on TSN, TSN GO and TSN Radio 1050 with pre-game coverage kicking off at 12:30pm et/9:30am pt with Rod Black and Leo Rautins on TSN and with Jim Tatti, Duane Watson, Gareth Wheeler and Josh Lewenberg on a special two-hour edition of Countdown to Tip-off at 11:00 AM on TSN 1050. Tatti, Watson, Wheeler and Lewenberg will return with an extended post-game show following the game. TSN.cas coverage includes in-game highlights and live streaming of the fan festivities at Maple Leaf Square during the game as well as the post-game news conferences. "Honestly, this is what you live for, man," said DeRozan, the Raptors leading scorer, averaging 24.8 points in his first career playoff series. "To play and be in moments like this, because they last forever. Memories like that are going to last way after Im finished playing so youve definitely got to take advantage of it and understand youve got to go out there and play youre A-game." The Raptors, up 3-2 going into Game 6, failed to close out the series in Brooklyn Friday after the Nets got off to a commanding start, earning a wire-to-wire 97-83 win in the face of elimination. The two teams have gone blow for blow all season long, splitting their 10 meetings. In 40 quarters, 480 minutes, the Raptors have scored just one point more than the opposing Nets. Now, itll come down to one final game, four quarters, 48 minutes between two evenly matched foes with very different backstories. Toronto players have made just seven appearances in Game 7s, losing all seven, all of them on the road. Meanwhile, the Nets have 27 games of experience in this situation. Paul Pierce alone has played in more Game 7s than the Raptors roster. Lowry, the only Raptors starter to play in a Game 7, and his Houston Rockets were dismantled in the Western Conference Semifinals, losing to the Lakers by 19 points in 2009. "We got the s--- beat out of us," he said of his lone Game 7 experience. Greivis Vasquez, a rookie with the Grizzlies in 2011, lost by 15 in Oklahoma City during the final game of the semis. Chuck Hayes and John Salmons both have a couple Game 7 defeats on their resume, Tyler Hansbrough has one. To say they have something to prove is probably an understatement. "This game will go down in memory or in history," said the veteran Hayes. "It could be one of your great performances, a so-so performance but people will always remember a Game 7. So how do you want to be remembered?" The Nets, on the other hand, were built for this moment. They are the most expensive NBA team ever assembled, a roster loaded with perennial all-stars and future hall of famers. As such, the pressure is on them to deliver. "We aint got no 100 million, whatever payroll they got," said DeRozan. "Hey, thats all on them. We understand what we have to do and were going to go out there wanting it. At the end of the day they have more to lose than us." The spotlight is fixated on them and they know it. After guaranteeing a victory ahead of Game 6, Nets forward Andray Blatche had no problem doubling down. "We guarantee it," Blatche said after Fridays win. "Were gonna go there, take care of business and go to Miami." Although the Raptors have carried themselves with a quiet confidence throughout the series, refusing to get caught up in an extra curricular war of words, they did not take kindly to Blatches pre-game acceptance speech. "I dont know who does he think he is," said Vasquez, asked about Blatches comments after Saturday afternoon practice at the Air Canada Centre. "Hes not [Kevin Garnett] or Paul Pierce or Jason Kidd. Were not going to listen to his nonsense. He gotta earn that, and he hasnt yet." "I dont care what he said," DeRozan added. "He can say what he wants, honestly. He can go out there and say hes going to hit the lottery tomorrow, I could give a hell." That animosity - natural in any long playoff series - has been building for over two weeks and will come to a head Sunday. All season long, the Raptors and their mix of youth and discarded veterans have been an unlikely success story. On Sunday theyll all have a couple things in common. From one end of the bench to the other, theyll all be playing the most important game of the careers, looking to accomplish something none of them have before, striving to move on and continue to defy the odds. "These are lifetime moments," Lowry said. "Game 7 is Game 7, no matter what round its in, its Game 7. Its 3-3, win or go home. Either youre going to the Bahamas or youre going to the second round." Cheap Yeezy From China .The 24-year-old quarterback spent four seasons at Northern Illinois and in 2013 was a finalist for the Heisman, which is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in U. Wholesale Yeezy . After rookie right-hander Alex Colome excelled in a 5-2 victory in the opener, the Rays fell to Chris Tillman and the Orioles 4-1 on Friday night. https://www.wholesaleyeezyauthentic.com/ .C. -- Kevin Harvick won his first career pole at Darlington Raceway on Friday as he looks to chase his first Southern 500.ATLANTA -- Aaron Harang realizes his struggles in 2013 were a sign to some that he no longer could be a winning pitcher. Through eight starts in 2014, Harang is proving hes still on top of his game. Two days after his 36th birthday, Harang pitched six strong innings and, backed by home runs from Evan Gattis and Jason Heyward, led the Atlanta Braves to a 5-2 win and a three-game sweep of the Chicago Cubs on Sunday. Harang (4-3) gave up two runs on six hits and two walks. He had nine strikeouts. He is one win shy of matching his total in 26 starts combined with Seattle and the Mets last year, and hes savoring his career revival. "It means a lot, just to get back out here and prove that I can still do this," Harang said. "I know there were probably a lot of people questioning that after last year. Ive been pitching well and guys are playing well behind me and were battling through games. Its been a lot of fun. Ive just got to keep it going." Harang, who was 5-12 with a career-worst 5.40 ERA last year, has a 2.98 ERA this season. The right-hander has allowed more than two earned runs in only one of his eight starts -- nine runs in a 9-3 loss at Miami on April 30. Ryan Kalish, Chris Coghlan and Welington Castillo each struck out twice against Harang. Overall, the Cubs finished with 14 strikeouts. "They have a young, aggressive team over there and I think I was able to take a little advantage of that, knowing how aggressive they are," Harang said. Gattis gave Atlanta a 3-2 lead with his homer off Edwin Jackson in the fourth inning. Heyward added to the lead with his first home run since April 9, a two-run drive off James Russell in the seventh that landed in the Braves bullpen beyond the right-field wall. "It felt like it was longer than that," Heyward said of his power drought. "I keep on showing up every day and trying to put up good at-bats and find goood pitches to hit. Yeezy 700 Outlet. . If you try and do too much, thats when you start to compound things." Jackson (2-3) allowed three runs on six hits and two walks in six innings. "The two balls I got hurt on were balls up and over the middle," he said. "Balls that should be hit. Ive just got to do a better job of getting ahead in the count and working down." David Carpenter pitched the ninth for his second save. B.J. Upton made a sliding catch of Kalishs short fly in centre field to end it. Atlanta closer Craig Kimbrel was rested after pitching two straight days. The NL East-leading Braves have recovered from seven straight losses by winning four of five. The Cubs, last in the NL Central, have dropped seven of eight. Ryan Doumit had a run-scoring single and Andrelton Simmons drove in a run with a double to give Atlanta a 2-0 lead in the second. The Cubs tied it in the fourth on Nate Schierholtzs two-run double. The Braves quickly reclaimed the lead when Gattis hit his eighth homer over the 380-foot sign in left field. Dan Uggla was hit by a pitch from Russell as a pinch-hitter to lead off the seventh. Uggla scored on Heywards third homer. NOTES: Jackson, who grew up in Georgia and lives in Atlanta, is 0-3 in eight career games, including six starts, against the Braves. ... Braves LF Justin Upton was held out after he sustained a bruised lower back muscle when he was hit by a pitch from Jeff Samardzija on Saturday night. Justin Upton said he hopes to play Monday in San Francisco. ... Atlanta 2B Tyler Pastornicky made his second consecutive start and was 0 for 4. ... The Braves begin a six-game road trip at the Giants with RHP Gavin Floyd facing RHP Tim Lincecum on Monday night. Lincecum beat the Braves on May 2. ... The Cubs open a four-game series in St. Louis on Monday night when LHP Travis Wood faces LHP Tyler Lyons. ' ' '