TORONTO - Forty-eight hours after a disheartening loss in Brooklyn, and moments after their bounce-back victory at home over the Pistons, a collection of Raptors players and coaches gathered in the locker room to watch the tail end of the Nets one-point victory over Miami. [url=https://www.warriorsro

TORONTO - Forty-eight hours after a disheartening loss in Brooklyn, and moments after their bounce-back victory at home over the Pistons, a collection of Raptors players and coaches gathered in the locker room to watch the tail end of the Nets one-point victory over Miami. Omari Spellman Warriors Jersey . With less than 20 games remaining and a postseason berth all but locked up, the scoreboard watching is well underway. The red-hot Nets pulled within three games of Toronto for top spot in the Atlantic Division on Monday. In defeating the defending, two-time champion Heat Wednesday - for the third time this season - they continue to keep pace with the Raptors, breathing directly down their necks. As Dwane Casey and his players watched Brooklyn close out its seventh victory in eight games, the Raptors coach delivered a strong message to the troops. Dont look back. "We can watch that but if we dont take care of our business its not worth a crap," he said after his team did just that, defeating the Pistons 101-87 at home Wednesday evening. "Im more concerned about what we do and how were playing and how weve got to make up for Patrick (Patterson) being out and losing leads more so than anything else." The Raptors, despite Mondays loss, still control their own destiny and they sure looked like a team in the drivers seat against an inferior opponent in the reeling Pistons. Detroit is a befuddling case of disjointed talent. Despite swinging for the fences over the summer - signing Josh Smith and trading for Brandon Jennings - Joe Dumars and company have struck out this season. Chemistry is a hard thing to quantify in a team sport like basketball, as the post-trade Raptors can attest to. You either have it or you dont. When the Pistons began to come apart - as they tend to do - in the third quarter and then again in the fourth, the Raptors came together. "I thought [the bigs] were battling and our guards came back in, what we call cracking down, and cracked down to help the bigs" said Casey. "I thought that was huge. Its a five-man job." Toronto was paced in scoring by DeMar DeRozan, who had a game-high 25 points, as well as Amir Johnson and Kyle Lowry, chipping in with 20 and 19 respectively. Still, it was as much a collective effort as Casey could have hoped for, especially with the injured Patterson out resting an elbow sprain. With the intimidating frontcourt duo of Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond to contend with, the Raptors had four players pull down eight or more rebounds, including reserves Greivis Vasquez and Chuck Hayes. The Pistons came into the game ranked first in offensive rebounds, first in paint points and second in second-chance scoring. "We had to box out," said Johnson, who grabbed nine boards on the night. "We looked at all the stats and that was definitely the key, to get all those guys off the boards. They definitely have a big lineup and thats what we did." The Raptors "cracked down" - as Casey says - in the second half, besting Detroit 29-13 on the boards, holding the visitors to one offensive rebound. They also outscored the Pistons 24-14 in the paint and 15-0 in second-chance points over the final 24 minutes. On a night in which Brooklyn stole headlines with an impressive win over an elite team, the division-leaders took care of business. The Raptors have heeded their coaches warning, at least to this point. They havent looked back. With 11 wins in its last 12 games against opponents with records south of .500, Toronto continues to hold serve. Theyre not looking for style points so long as they come away with the prize. "A lot of our guys havent been there," Casey reiterated. "Like Ive always preached, its a different animal. I hope theyre enjoying it but yet still [understanding] how hard it is, getting there first and then after you get there it gets even harder." "Its good, its exciting, its great for our fans," he continued. "Its something our fans havent been through in a while but again, weve just got to take care of our business." Eric Paschall Warriors Jersey .C. Lions 35-14, was named the CFLs offensive player of the week Tuesday. Sheets recorded his ninth 100-yard rushing performance of the season to tie the Riders club record. Chris Mullin Warriors Jersey .com) - The Winnipeg Jets got over one hurdle by snapping their longest losing streak of the season. https://www.warriorsrookiesshop.com/Jordan-Poole-City-Edition-Jersey/ . Both of Padakins goals came in the second period while Zane Jones added a single in the first period for Calgary (13-6-4). Hitmen goaltender Chris Driedger finished with 30 saves for the shutout.Milwaukee, WI (SportsNetwork.com) - O.J. Mayo scored 25 points off the bench and the Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 93-81 in a matchup between last years two worst teams on Friday night. The Sixers failed to score a point in the final 8:21, missing all 13 of their shots and turning the ball over four times. We missed a lot of shots ... We just couldnt score, Sixers head coach Brett Brown said. Jabari Parker had 11 points and 10 rebounds, Brandon Knight tallied 13 points, eight assists and seven boards while Larry Sanders added 15 rebounds for Milwaukee, which fell at Charlotte in overtime in its season opener on Wednesday night. Nerlens Noel posted his first career double-double, finishing with 14 points and 10 boards for the Sixers, who lost at Indiana in their first game of the year Wednesday night. Hollis Thompsons triple with 8:21 remaining cut the Sixers deficit to 82-81. Kevin Durant Warriors Jersey. . Mayo scored five points, including a game-ending clip starting jumper and a later triple, as the Bucks outscored them 11-0 the rest of the way. Philadelphia was 3-of-18 (16.7 percent) from the floor and Milwaukee scored 15 points on eight Sixers turnovers in the final frame. Earlier, the game was tied 24-24 after a quarter of play and Philadelphia led 47-46 at the break thanks to nine from Noel and eight by Thompson. Neither team led by more than five in the third -- including Philly by a 73-68 margin with 1:39 left -- and the Sixers took a 74-73 edge into the fourth. Game Notes Milwaukee scored 23 points off 18 Philadelphia giveaways ... The Sixers were 5-of-23 (21.7 percent) from beyond the arc and 12-of-22 (54.5 percent) from the foul line ... The Bucks held a 55-42 rebounding advantage. ' ' '