Kryszczuk came on in relief and Las

NEW YORK - The basketball gods have spoken, with an assist from Jason Kidd. B.J. Hill Giants Jersey . The Toronto Raptors will open their first playoff series in six years at home to the Brooklyn Nets at 12:30 PM et Saturday afternoon. The Raptors learned their fate early in the second half of Wednesdays season final - a 95-92 loss to the Knicks - when Chicago fell to Charlotte in overtime, assuring Toronto would finish with the third seed in the Eastern Conference. Brooklyn had been red-hot, winning 33 of 46 games - the second best record in the East since Jan. 1 - until they dropped four of the last five contests, conceding a division title to the Raptors and ultimately falling to sixth place. Their last stand in Cleveland suggests that the late-season collapse, or at least the latter half of it, may not have been an accident. Kidds Nets squandered a couple of opportunities to lock up the fifth seed, setting up a likely matchup with the surging Bulls, on the final two nights of the campaign. On Wednesday evening, with four teams jockeying for playoff seeding, the Nets rookie head coach opted to sit all five of his starters, suiting up only seven players in a winnable game against the lowly Cavaliers. They would go on to lose by 29. "In my experience, youve got to be careful what you wish for," Dwane Casey cautioned ahead of Wednesdays finale. "You think you want to play a certain team then you start preparing for them and say, wow that teams pretty good. Then youve got a dogfight. I think the best way to approach it is let the basketball gods decide." Faced with a similar decision, Casey - who was an assistant in Dallas when he and Kidd won a championship together in 2011 - chose to play his stars against the Knicks and compete to win. Thats just one of the factors that separate these two teams, that creates a trace of animosity going into this weekends first-round matchup. Whether they care to admit to it or not, the Nets took their foot off the gas in the hope of maximizing the odds of facing an inexperienced Raptors team. Whether Torontos players or coaches care to admit it, thats a slap in the face, or at least it should be. Do they feel slighted? "No, man," Lowry responded, after the game. "They rested their players. Thats what they did." They shouldnt need added motivation, Casey wisely posted out. The Raptors have been underestimated and theyre about to be again. They will be lost in a sea of publicity surrounding the compelling storylines of a big market team with a payroll exceeding $100 million. "Weve played all season as the underdog, as the small guy trying to come up, whatever you want to call it," said DeMar DeRozan, who is one of three Raptors starters slated to make his postseason debut Saturday. "We always play with a chip on our shoulder and we understand going into the playoffs, we havent done nothing. We havent made it to the playoffs in six years. So weve got to go in there with a chip on our shoulder and understand its going to be a dog fight every single game, just like the season was." Their starting lineup goes into the series with 24 games of playoff experience to Brooklyns 399. The average age of the Nets first unit - complete with veterans and future hall of famers - is eight years older than Torontos. Its a clash of old and young, the battle-tested versus the unproven soldiers. "Experience is one thing but youve got to go play," said Casey, who is also venturing into uncharted waters, his first postseason as a head coach. "You have to go out and compete, its why they play the games. Our guys are going to be ready." "Theyve got a lot of older veterans that have been in the league 10-plus years so thats an advantage that we have," DeRozan said. "We understand that theyre experienced and everything but hey, who isnt? Once you come in this league youre going against players all season that are experienced in some way. You just have to find a way to win." The Raptors and Nets split a four-game season series, with each team winning one on the road. Perhaps it was fate. In a redditt AMA chat last month, Terrence Ross identified the Nets as a preferred playoff matchup, to which Brooklyns Andray Blatche took issue and responded, "Ross asked for this, so theyve got to back up their words." These teams faced off in the 2007 playoffs - Toronto the third seed, the Nets, then in New Jersey, the sixth - after the Raptors won their first and only other division title. It was the first postseason experience for the likes of Chris Bosh, Jose Calderon and Anthony Parker, among others. That inexperience against a veteran Nets team - led by Kidd, Vince Carter and Richard Jefferson - proved costly, as inexperience tends to be in the playoffs. This Raptors team believes theyre different, that they have something special. They may be right. As most observers - both devoted and casual alike - are aware and will continue to be force-fed ad nauseam ahead of their first postseason game since 2008, the Raptors rapid return to relevance in the East was unexpected. Generous prognosticators billed them as a conference wild card, a fringe playoff team, at best. Division winner? No chance. Not with a pair of entitled New York-area giants and their gargantuan payrolls occupying the Atlantic. Internally, expectations were being tempered, justifiably so. After years of false promises, the word "playoffs" was quickly dismissed in place of a new goal; "growth". They were indeed a wild card in the East. A newly structured front office, an expiring head coach and starting point guard, an $18 million experiment inherited from the previous regime. "We didnt go into the season thinking we were going to be division winners," Casey admitted. "That was our goal but we knew that was going to be a lofty goal. We always go in trying to swing for the fences. Once the trade happened, no one knew. The guys kept working, kept working, kept working and [it] kind of came together." The Raptors were 6-12 before that fabled evening in Los Angeles, the night Rudy Gay was shipped to Sacramento and the fortunes of a long-suffering franchise began to turn. From that point on they would finish the season with a record of 42-22, tops in the East. Some will shrug them off as the poster team of a historically weak Eastern Conference and at one point, early in the season, that may have been the case. However, they made it here on their own merit. Theyre one just four teams, in either conference, to finish in the top 10 in both offensive and defensive efficiency. Their 22 road wins, a franchise record, tied Miami and Washington for the best mark in the East and they finished with 16-14 against the superior Western Conference. Their individual and collective accomplishments seem countless. Their starting five has won more games than any other in team history, each player putting up career highs in minutes logged and scoring. On Monday they hung their second division championship banner and set a new franchise mark in wins. Six months ago that would have been more than enough. Now, its an appetizer. Theyve tasted success and they want more. No one is satisfied. "When I first got here that was one of my biggest goals, to get this team back to the playoffs," said Kyle Lowry. "Im happy to be there but Im not satisfied. I want to go out there, I want to make some noise and show that were really a good team." Cody Latimer Giants Jersey .com) - The Ottawa Senators will try to keep their slim playoff hopes alive when they face the Chicago Blackhawks who are trying to secure their place in the post-season. Kyle Lauletta Giants Jersey . Hollis-Jefferson went 5-for-6 from the field and added six rebounds, while Stanley Jefferson contributed 14 points for the Wildcats, who used their trademark tough defense to dominate the games final 24 minutes and advance to Tuesdays winners bracket matchup with Kansas State. http://www.giantsrookiestore.com/Giants-Kareem-Martin-Jersey/ . According to TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger, it doesnt appear the offer was warmly received by the team. Blue Jackets director of hockey operations John Davidson and general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said on Wednesday the team has made offers of $6 million for two years, $32 million for six and $46 million over eight years but each one was refused by the restricted free agent centre and agent Kurt Overhardt.SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. - Mone Davis didnt have her best stuff when she and her Philadelphia teammates needed it most, and Las Vegas took advantage. Dallan Cave and Brennan Holligan hit two-run homers, lefty reliever Austin Kryszczuk got out of two big jams, and Las Vegas beat Philadelphia and its star pitcher 8-1 in the Little League World Series on Wednesday night. Davis, just the 18th girl to play in the Little League World Series and the only one to win a game on the mound, took the loss. "Mone didnt have her A game today," Philly manager Alex Rice said. "At this point, were playing to get to Saturday." The victory puts Las Vegas in Saturdays U.S. title game and sends Philadelphia into an elimination game on Thursday night against Chicagos Jackie Robinson West in a matchup of inner-city teams. The Great Lakes champion beat Pearland, Texas 6-1 on Tuesday night in an elimination game. "I think its terrific," Rice said. "Ive been looking forward to playing Chicago since we got here." Davis, the darling of the sports world with her amazing success and poise, was both masterful and ordinary on a night made short because of pitch-count rules. She allowed three runs and six hits and struck out six in 2 1-3 innings before leaving after 55 pitches. That makes her eligible to pitch again in the U.S. championship game on Saturday. Davis played first after her stint on the mound and was switched to right field in the top of the sixth, but she dazzled her opponents more than once on the mound with off-speed deliveries and tantalizing pitches just off the plate. "Shes very crafty," said Kryszczuk, who picked up the victory. "Shes a great pitcher. That triple in the first was huge and then she settled down. Great job by us to get this victory." The grassy hill beyond the outfield fences at Howard J. Lamade Stadium was jammed with so many cheering fans in lawn chairs that it looked like the bleacher section at any ballpark as 34,128 fans craned to see every pitch. And they had an effect on Las Vegas, an afterthought at best to many before the game. "The crowd got to us at times. It was hard to communicate," Las Vegas manager Ashton Cave said. "Thats a big weight to carry on a 13-year-olds shoulders what goes on publicly. They definitely deserve the attention that they get, but we have the first Nevada team in history in 75 years to make it to this point. To come through and do what weve done, were just definitely making a mark." The 5-foot-4 Davis, who has given the Taney Youth Baseball Association Little League in Philadelphia notoriety no one could have imagined, tries to use the first two innings to get to know the home plate umpires strike zone, and the first time through the order gauges where the opposing players dont like the ball. It worked like a charm in her first outing in the World Series as she pitched a two-hit shutout. She didnt get that chance on this night against hard-hitting Las Vegas, which had outsccored its first two opponents 25-4. Patrick Omameh Giants Jersey. Davis, her long braids flopping over her shoulders on every pitch, allowed hits to the first two batters as Philadelphia fell behind. Leadoff hitter Zach Hare lofted a soft single to centre and Kryszczuk followed with a resounding triple to right centre for a 1-0 lead. Unfazed, Davis struck out the side, getting Holligan looking and Brad Stone and Andrew Matulich swinging. Philadelphia threatened in the bottom of the first, but Las Vegas right fielder Alex Barker made a dazzling diving catch at the warning track of a drive by Jack Rice to end the inning and strand two Philly runners. "It was amazing," said Stone, who found out he was starting in warmups. After reaching back for something extra to get out of that first-inning jam, Davis sputtered again. Cave slammed a two-run shot to left-centre, a liner that just cleared the fence for a 3-0 lead. Josiah Cromwick and Hare followed with singles, but Davis settled down again and struck out Kryszczuk swinging and Holligan looking again. She left in the top of the third in favour of lefty Erik Lipson, but she wasnt through competing. After falling behind 0-2 in the count in her second at-bat, Davis worked a walk with runners at second and third and Zion Spearman scored when the fourth ball bounded away from the catcher. When Tai Shanahan followed with a perfect bunt single in front of the plate, the Philadelphia fans began chanting "Lets go Taney! Lets go Taney!" But Kryszczuk came on in relief and Las Vegas escaped. He got Lipson looking at a third strike and Eli Simon lined into a double play to end the threat. In the fifth, Kryszczuk struck out Spearman swinging with two runners on. Las Vegas tacked on five runs in the top of the sixth, keyed by an RBI double by Hare and Holligans homer. Las Vegas entered the game on a serious roll. The Mountain Ridge Little League champions beat Rapid City, South Dakota 12-2 and then routed Chicago 13-2 in four innings in a mercy-rule game on Sunday behind five homers, a grand slam by Stone and two from Kryszczuk. Davis began her eye-opening appearance in the showcase event by throwing a two-hit shutout in a 4-0 victory over Nashville. She had eight strikeouts and didnt walk a batter and needed only 70 pitches to complete the game. Davis also threw a three-hit shutout to lead Taney to an 8-0 victory over Delaware in the Mid-Atlantic Regional championship game, so she has a flair for the dramatic. The glare of the spotlight on Davis and her teammates only grew as newly elected Major League Baseball Commissioner-elect Rob Manfred threw the ceremonial first pitch a day after Davis became the first Little Leaguer to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated. "Last week, this week, maybe next week, shes owned the sports conversation," Sports Illustrated manager editor Chris Stone said. "How often do you get to say this about a 13-year-old girl? Its the easiest type of story to identify as a cover story." Cheap Baseball Braves Jerseys Cheap Baseball Marlins Jerseys Cheap Baseball Mets Jerseys Cheap Baseball Phillies Jerseys Cheap Baseball Nationals Jerseys Cheap Baseball Cubs Jerseys Cheap Baseball Reds Jerseys Cheap Baseball Brewers Jerseys Cheap Baseball Pirates Jerseys Cheap Baseball Cardinals Jerseys Cheap Baseball Diamondbacks Jerseys Cheap Baseball Rockies Jerseys Cheap Baseball Dodgers Jerseys Cheap Baseball Padres Jerseys Cheap Baseball Giants Jerseys ' ' '