CLEVELAND -- The Raptors arent officially in the NBA playoffs. They dont look ready for them, either. Dion Waiters scored 24 points, Luol Deng added 19 and the Cleveland Cavaliers prevented Toronto from getting closer to a post-season spot with a 102-100 win over the sloppy Raptors on Tuesday night. Toronto fell behind by 21 points in the third quarter, and then battled back to take a 95-94 lead. But the Raptors fell apart in the final minutes. With their fourth loss in six games, the Raptors dropped one-half game behind Chicago for the No. 3 playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. "We gotta get back to who we are," Raptors coach Dwane Casey said in disgust. "Its easy to get up for OKC, Miami and Indiana, but the other teams are playing for something too, which is pride. That can be even more dangerous." Despite playing without All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving, who missed his fifth straight game with a strained biceps tendon, the Cavs were able to hold on and snap a five-game losing streak at home. "It was a good win by our guys," coach Mike Brown said. "Thats a playoff team. They were playing good basketball. In a game like that, maybe earlier in the season we might have lost, especially coming down the stretch when a team makes a run against us. Our guys found a way to win." Kyle Lowry scored 22 and Terrence Ross had 16 for the Raptors, who had a chance to tie it in the final seconds but guard Greivis Vasquez lost his footing and committed a turnover with 1.9 seconds left. "I was trying to spin and I lost my balance," Vasquez said. "It was just a bad play for me. It was me going to my weak hand and I lost my balance, stepped kind of weird. I turned the ball over. Ill take responsibility. Im not going to run away. Im a man. I wish I could be in that position again so we have another opportunity tomorrow (at Boston)." Toronto took a 95-94 lead on Vasquezs 3-pointer with 6:45 remaining, but the Raptors went just 1 of 9 from the floor and scored five points the rest of the way. Tristan Thompson added 15 points and 13 rebounds and Jarret Jack had 13 points for Cleveland, which kept its faint playoff hopes alive. The Cavs trail idle Atlanta by 4 1/2 games for the No. 8 playoff slot. The Raptors may be closing in on their first post-season appearance since 2008, but the Atlantic Division leaders looked out of sorts at both ends. They fought back from a big deficit, but fell apart with the game on the line. Toronto missed three free throws in the final 4:26, but still had a chance to force overtime or possibly steal their 40th win after forcing a Cleveland turnover on an errant inbounds pass with 7.8 seconds to go. But Vasquez, who finished with 16 points, drove the left side and slipped about 10 feet from the basket. As he fell, Vasquez flung the ball in desperation and it was intercepted on the right side by Deng. Vasquez remained on the floor for a few seconds grabbing his ankle before he limped off the court. "It was a handoff to Greivis to turn the corner," Casey said. "I thought he turned it pretty well and his ankle went out on him. But one play was not when we lost that game. The game was decided with the way we played in the first quarter." However, Toronto didnt execute when it needed to and lost to a Cleveland team playing for nothing more than pride. At least the Cavs overcame their own mistakes, something theyve rarely done during this disappointing season. "We just stayed with it," Waiters said. "We didnt get rattled and made plays when we needed to." Clevelands offence was clicking early on. The Cavs recorded assists on eight of their first 10 buckets, opened a 14-point lead in the first quarter and pushed their advantage to 18 in the second. Toronto made three 3-pointers -- the Raptors had eight 3s in the first half -- in a span of 1:27 to climb within 49-40, but Cleveland regrouped and led 59-45 at halftime. NOTES: The Cavs are 12-11 since Feb. 7. ... Toronto was just 16 of 26 from the line. ... Irving rode a stationary bike on the side as the Cavs went through their morning shootaround. Afterward, Irving looked good doing some shooting drills. Brown said Irving is "closer" to returning, but its not guaranteed the third-year pro will play again this season. ... Raptors F Patrick Patterson (right ulnar collateral sprain) missed his 10th consecutive game. He was cleared to resume contact practices Monday. Cheap Coach Black Friday UK .com) - The Winnipeg Jets have thrived under Paul Maurice despite injury limiting Evander Kane to just four games under the new head coach. Coach Handbags Black Friday UK .com) - Kevin Durant had 21 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists as the Oklahoma City Thunder routed the Orlando Magic 127-99 on Sunday. http://www.coachblackfriday.co.uk/ . After slipping from the summit during the week, the Gunners overcame struggling Crystal Palace 2-0 on Sunday thanks to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlains second-half brace. Coach Bags Black Friday UK . The Astros ended a franchise winless streak at Fenway Park with a pesky performance, rallying to tie Boston twice before finishing off the Red Sox in extra innings. Coach Wallets Black Friday UK . TSNs Second Round coverage features two highly-anticipated Western Conference series, as the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks take on the Minnesota Wild, and the Los Angeles Kings square off against the Anaheim Ducks in another clash of California-based teams.DETROIT - Canadas Kirsten Moore-Towers and Dylan Moscovitch are in second place after Saturdays short program in pairs at Skate America which launches the ISU Grand Prix figure skating season. World champions Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov of Russia grabbed the lead with 83.05 points, Moore-Towers and Moscovitch followed with a personal best score of 71.51 and Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov of Russia are third at 64.80. "We improved on most aspects of our program," said Moore-Towers of St. Catharines, Ont. "The transitions and connections were the things we really wanted to do better today." Moore-Towers and Moscovitch put their hat in the Olympic medal contenders ring last season placing fourth at the world championships. They opened 2013-14 with a victory at the U.S. Skate International last month. Moscovitch says he wasnt surprised to see a personal best this early in the season. "We knew we were on track to get that score at this point," said the Toronto resident. "Were happy with it even though we didnt skate completely perfectly." Margaret Purdy of Strathroy, Ont., and Michael Marinaro of Sarnia, Ont., are seventh. The pairs free skate is on Sunday. The two couples are Canadas only entries at the competition. Later, Mao Asada of Japan won the womens short program, beating Ashley Wagner. This marked the second straight competition where Volosozhar and Trankov, the reigning Skate America champions, have set a short program world record. Their previous record, 81.65, was set last month en route to winning the Nebelhorn Trophy in Oberstdorf, Germany. Their Skate America performance, to "Masquerade Waltz" by Aram Khatchaturian, was a crisp display of big throws and lifts, unison spins and a triple toe loop, and sophisticated interpretation. The crowd gave the Russians a one-minute standing ovation. "We dont care so much about the world record," Trankov said. "We care more about our personal record, about our seasons best, about our skating. "Its our pleasure to skate good, and to have audience love it. When people stand up out of their seats, and are very loud and clap their hands, we feel it. It is more important thing than the scores." Asada skated cleanly and had 73.18 points. Wagner, the defending Skate America champion from the U.S., was next at 68.26. Elena Radinova of Russia, who is 14 and the reigning world junior champion, was third at 67.01. The long program is Sunday night. Asada boosted her score on the fly, changing her planned program content. She had planned a triple flip-triple loop near the beginning, but went with a triple loop instead. Asada performed a triple loop-double toe near the end of the short, upping her total. Asadas high-technical program had a pleasing, quiet flow. She made an adjustment, turning a plannned triple flip-double loop scheduled for the start to a triple loop-double loop near the end.dddddddddddd Jumps placed in the latter half of a program, when a skater is typically tiring, receive a higher scoring value. "For the past few years, I was not able to perform my best at the first Grand Prix, so I was very happy I was reasonably able to perform a very good performance," Asada said through a translator. "I think it is a very good start for the season." Wagners steady performance revealed her off-season work to improve her difficulty level. Wagner, the two-time U.S. champion, is also the defending Skate America titleholder but was still a technical difficulty level below Kim Yu-na, Carolina Kostner, and Asada coming into this season. Wagners lack of a triple-triple was addressed, and Skate America was the first ISU Grand Prix of the season to display it. Her more mature short program, to Pink Floyds "Shine on You Crazy Diamond," debuted at Skate America with a leadoff successful triple flip-triple toe. When her score of 69.26 was announced, she screamed "Oh!" and then did a little seated shimmy dance. "Going into the flip-toe, I was actually pretty terrified because its a high-risk element for me," Wagner said. "Before I went out there, Rafael (Arutunian) told me, Just go do it, go skate the flip-toe, do it like you know how to. And I just kind of turned the rest off and went into autopilot for the flip-toe and performed it like the way I had in practice. Im happy with that." While Asada and Wagner both impressed, the buzz from the short program was Radionova. She is Skate Americas youngest competitor, and many wondered how she would handle the pressure of the seasons first Grand Prix event. She answered the questions quickly, delivering a clean and confident performance. Radionova is the reigning world junior champion, and dominated the senior-level Nebelhorn Trophy event last month in Germany. She is ineligible for the Sochi Olympics because of her age. "This competition is a new level for me, I did not expect this result. ... I was not nervous, I was really calm and I kept it together really well," Radionova said through a translator. "I think this competition has a big meaning for me." The pairs competition wasnt nearly as close, as Volosozhar and Trankov showed they were at a level above the field. Canadians Moore-Towers and Moscovitch are nearly 13 points behind the leaders. Their throw triple loop was big, but Moore-Towers double-footed the landing. Former junior champions Ksneia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov evoked a Spanish feel in their short program. Their side-by-side triple toes were on par with those of Volosozhar and Trankov. But they lost points by downgrading their opening triple twist lift to a double. cheap nfl jerseys cheap jerseys cheap jerseys cheap jerseys cheap nfl jerseys wholesale jerseys ' ' '
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