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SALT LAKE CITY - Sporting a Seahawks cap during afternoon shootaround, coach Dwane Casey reinforced a sentiment hes preached over and over again since coming to Toronto. "Relentless defence wins in any sport," he said after watching the hard-hitting, opportunistic Seahawks stymie the Broncos and their high-octane offence. Casey didnt have to say much as he and his team watched Seattles dominant Super Bowl victory from their Salt Lake City hotel Sunday night. The message had already been engrained into the mindset of his players and stuck with them in Utah the following evening. "We cant control if our shots go in, we cant make every shot but we can control when we play hard on the defensive end," DeMar DeRozan said after holding Utah to 41 per cent shooting in a 94-79 win over the Jazz Monday. "Were understanding that more and more every game." Again, the Raptors got off to a slow start on the defensive end, something that plagued them in Portland Saturday as their comeback bid eventually fell short. The Jazz shot 50 per cent and scored 27 points, closing out the opening quarter with a three-point lead before Toronto tightened the screws in the second frame. Utah scored just 17 points in the second quarter, shooting 35 per cent from the field, 0-of-7 from three-point range and was held without a single assist. The Jazz didnt score more than 18 points in any quarter after the first. "Thats an issue with our team," Casey said before the game. "For whatever reason we turn up the intensity after halftime. I dont know if they like hearing me go ballistic at halftime." "Its one of our unfortunate traits, I would say, but again well take [the win]." The Raptors resiliency was tested again as Kyle Lowry - fresh off being named Eastern Conference Player of the Month - left for the locker room late in the third quarter to get treatment on a sore right knee. Lowry has been the teams most consistent contributor but seemed off his game, shooting 1-for-8 in 25 minutes before he was ruled out for the fourth quarter. The good news is the injury doesnt appear to be a serious one. Lowry has been battling soreness in the knee for about a week, playing through it and playing well, but on Monday he couldnt get it loose. "I couldnt help my team as much as I wanted to," said Lowry, who expects to play in Sacramento on Wednesday. "I trust my teammates would get the job done and thats what they did tonight." Torontos depth and team chemistry came through with Lowry on the sideline. Greivis Vasquez, who returned from a bout of the flu, stepped in at the point and scored 12 off the bench. Amir Johnson - playing on a sore right ankle - looked better, recording a double-double. Jonas Valanciunas had one of his better games in a tough matchup against Enes Kanter and John Salmons chipped in with 13 off the bench. As it has been when one Raptor struggles or gets hurt, the next man steps up. "Thats what it is, I think were playing for each other," Vasquez said. "I want Kyle to get healthy, I want the best for each and every one of us so thats important, man. When you have a team that has such a great atmosphere in the locker room, that care about each other, its going to be scary." Most importantly, it was the defensive effort that carried them to their sixth win over the last eight games. Casey preaches it every day and his troops have all bought in. Theyve seen how far it can take them. "The good thing about it is our players were talking about it last night watching the [Super Bowl]," said the Raptors coach. "Our guys were talking about how [the Seahawks] were hitting people and thats what Ive been preaching and am preaching, hit first." "Basketball-wise, its a little bit different but you can be aggressive for 48 minutes, take away options, take away passing lanes, bump cutters, box out [and] hit people coming for rebounds." Casey, an assistant with the Sonics for 11 years, resides in Seattle during the offseason and was invited to visit the Seahawks training camp a couple summers ago, where he - along with Blazers coach and good friend Terry Stotts - got the opportunity to watch Pete Carroll at work. The takeaway for Casey was to fully embrace and stay true to his philosophy as a head coach. "[Carroll is] a guy thats comfortable in his skin and Im at that point in my career too," he said. "In his first couple of tries he tried to do it the way the organization wanted to do it and he was trying to please everybody. I think you have to coach to your personality and to the personality of your team and thats what he conveyed to [Stotts] and I when we met with him" That philosophy - defence first, second and third - has been hammered home since day one and the results are beginning to reflect it. Entering Mondays games the Raptors ranked sixth in defensive efficiency, just behind the leagues heavy hitters (Indiana, Chicago, Golden State, Oklahoma City and San Antonio). On Monday they surrendered just 79 points, matching the second lowest total theyve given up all year. "I dont care who is playing, when you play the Utah Jazz, its a brand of basketball thats very difficult," Casey said. "Youre going to have to grind it out, youre going to have to earn every inch, every yard in this place and we did tonight." "The rest of the way, before the [All-Star] break, were going to have to grind it out mentally and physically," he continued. "Thats how its going to be because people are going to come out throwing haymakers at us and weve got to be physically and mentally prepared for it." On the season, theyre now 22-6 when holding teams under 100 points. Theyre 20-4 when opponents shoot below 45 per cent. Patrick Omameh Jersey . Indeed, must be among the greatest challenges in all of sports. The pressure he applies, from set to set, game to game, point to point, shot to shot. Ray-Ray Armstrong Jersey . Third-place Madrid fell behind and settled for a 2-2 draw earlier at Osasuna in a match both sides finished with 10 men, and Barcelona didnt let the chance escape. Barcelona, still without the injured Lionel Messi, again turned to Neymar after his hat trick against Celtic in the Champions League on Wednesday to convert a penalty on the half-hour mark and restore the lead in the 68th after Villarreal levelled. http://www.nygiantsproshop.com/authentic-saquon-barkley-jersey.html . On Monday night, many fans in this city placed the blame squarely on the captain for his role in the James Neal overtime winner against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Kyle Lauletta Giants Jersey . The future hall of famers stole the show at the Bell Centre on Tuesday night, with Jagr moving into seventh place in all-time goal scoring and Brodeur stopping 29 shots as the Devils downed the Montreal Canadiens 4-1. Custom New York Giants Jerseys . Ferrer will play Mikhail Youzhny on Sunday after he defeated Dmitry Tursunov 6-2, 6-4 in an all-Russian semifinal. "Youzhny is a good player," Ferrer said. ST. JOHNS, N.L. -- A three-goal first period started things off right for the St. Johns IceCaps Friday night as they downed the Binghamton Senators 6-2 in American Hockey League action. "I really liked our start," IceCaps head coach Keith McCambridge said. "I thought we came out and set the tone. We were able to get on the board first and then build off that. It was a strong game against an excellent team." John Albert and Kael Mouillierat each scored two goals to lead St. Johns. McCambridge was happy to get star performances from both forwards, and said he has been impressed with their play of late. "Mouillierat has been a really good offensive piece for us all season long," he said. "Hes a cornerstone on the power play and 5-on-5 hes a solid two-way player that can create offence. And, John Albert has really taken his game to the next level. The speed he comes through the neutral zone with is hard to contain." Mouillierat enjoyed scoring two in front of the home crowd and setting the tone early for the IceCaps. "Its awesome," Mouillierat said. "You always want to contribute. Ive been trying to focus on shooting the puck a little more, lucky enough, a few went in for me tonight." The forward wasnt surprised by the style of game, which featured a lot of quick breaks and a few breakaways. "Last time we played them it was a high-flying game too," he said. "t;They have a lot of firepower over there.dddddddddddd We tried to limit their chances and take advantage of ours. Adam Lowry and Eric ODell also scored for the IceCaps (33-19-4). Buddy Robinson and Jean-Gabriel Pageau replied for Binghamton (33-18-4). IceCaps goalie Michael Hutchinson made 26 saves, while his Binghamton counterpart, Nathan Lawson, stopped 28 shots. Lowry opened the scoring, putting the IceCaps ahead on a backhander five-hole in front of the net at the 5:09 mark of the first period. Albert added to the lead 12:21 into the first, cleaning up a Jason Jaffray rebound on the power play. Thirty seconds later, Mouillierat put the IceCaps up 3-0, finishing off a pass out front, beating Lawson high. Mouillierat added his second of the game with a high wrister 10:18 into the second, from the right faceoff dot on the power play. Albert added his second of the game, stripping a defender of the puck and scoring on a breakaway after a quick backhand-to-forehand move with 31 seconds left in the second period. ODell added insult to injury, scoring a penalty shot with a quick shot to fool Lawson 2:38 into the third. Robinson put the Senators on the scoreboard with a high blocker wristshot at the 7:53 mark of the third. Pageau added another for the Senators, finishing a cross-crease tap-in 10:14 into the third. St. Johns went 2-for-9 on the power play, while the Senators were 1-for-5 with the man advantage. Wholesale Hoodies NFL Shirts Outlet Jerseys NFL Wholesale Cheap NFL Jerseys Free Shipping Wholesale Jerseys Cheap Cheap NFL Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '