TORONTO - Fresh off one of his most impressive outings of the season, DeMar DeRozan sat by his locker and spoke about carrying his suddenly injury-ridden team while a small piece of gauze soaked up the blood on the hand he used to carry them. Theres some irony there, somewhere. DeRozan needed "four or five" stitches to close a gash in the webbing of his left hand following Wednesdays surprising 107-103 win over the Houston Rockets. "I didnt even notice," he said. It happened late in the fourth quarter as he tried to rip the ball away from Omer Asik. "I looked down and my whole hand was soaked." "It wouldnt stop bleeding. But its cool." Next to Terrence Ross, the Raptors healthiest starter might be the guy with the bloody mitt. They had been fortunate to avoid the injury bug for most of the season but, as they say, when it rains, it pours. Suddenly, its hit them like a monsoon. Missing Kyle Lowry for the first time this season, out with soreness in his left knee, Toronto lost another indispensable cog when Amir Johnson was removed three minutes into Wednesdays game, having tweaked a lingering right ankle ailment. Just a few minutes later the Raptors fell behind by 12 points. With eight games left in their feel-good, Cinderella season the sky was falling, or so we thought. Fact is, this wouldnt be the first time theyve been written off, left for dead. They havent followed the script to this point, so why would they start now? "Guys stepped up," Dwane Casey said. With Patrick Patterson leading the charge in his second game back from an elbow injury, the second unit immediately captured momentum. John Salmons played his best basketball in months while Nando De Colo and Tyler Hansbrough both gave Toronto a lift with their energy off the bench. Greivis Vasquez, starting in place of the injured Lowry, filled in admirably at the point, recording eight assists without committing a turnover in a season-high 40 minutes of action. But no one was quite as impressive as DeRozan. The all-star guard faced all the additional defensive attention you would expect without Lowry in the lineup but after a 12-minute adjustment period he put the team on his shoulders and got to work. "I had to pick up the slack with [Lowry] out," said DeRozan, making just one of his five shots in the first quarter. "I havent really played without Kyle, hes played every game. It was an adjustment for me tonight but I figured it out there after the first quarter." DeRozan scored 15 of his game-high 29 points in the second quarter, connecting on all six of his attempts in the frame, including a 32-foot bank shot to end the half. Rising to the occasion, DeRozan was at his best when his team needed him most; the mark of a true all-star. The Raptors have two players that fit that description. With DeRozan sidelined for a couple games in late February, Lowry led Toronto to a pair of victories, scoring over 30 points in each contest. Now it was his turn to carry the load. "Theyve been doing it the whole year," Vasquez said of the teams star backcourt. "Both [of them]. Its not hidden that theyre our leaders. We go as they go and everybody understands that. This is why we have a healthy locker room. Were not fighting egos. We know whats going on. Those two guys are going to score, those two guys are going to make winning plays for us and weve just got to feed off their energy. Whenever those guys go down weve got their back, thats what this team is all about." Lowry originally sustained the injury colliding with LeBron James in Mondays loss to the Heat. Although there was no structural damage to his knee, it was still swollen on Wednesday and the teams medical staff decided it was best to hold him out, much to the dismay of Lowry, one would imagine. "If it were up to him he would go one leg," Casey joked before the game. "But you dont want to risk his future health for one game." Even in his absence, Lowrys tendencies seemed to rub off on his teammates. DeRozan took a rare charge. Vasquez tried to do the same, though he was called for a blocking foul. "I know he was laughing," Vasquez said of Lowry, who leads the league in drawing charges. "He knows I dont take charges." The good news for the Raptors is that neither Lowrys knee injury or Johnsons bum ankle appears too serious. Both players will benefit from some much-needed rest during Thursdays off day and hope to be ready for Fridays home tilt with the Pacers, Torontos final game against a winning opponent this season. "Weve been very lucky not to have had some major injuries, knock on wood, throughout the year," Casey said. "The little injury bug has hit us a little bit. The schedules not going to stop. Weve got to keep going. Next man up." Casey reaches milestone With the victory, Casey notched his 100th win at the helm of the Raptors, becoming the third coach in team history to reach that plateau, joining Sam Mitchell and Lenny Wilkens. Asked about the accomplishment after the game, the Raptors third-year bench boss shifted the focus to his players, as expected. "All I know is its [win] number 43 for us this year," he said. "Its not about [me]. Its about the team, its about the organization, its about the players that have been here the three years and the process that weve gone through." "To start where we did and kind of build, and were still building, is a tribute to the young guys and the players that have been through here." The stat The Raptors will finish the year with a 16-14 record against Western Conference teams, their first season above .500 versus the West since 1999-00. The quote "Ever since I was in New Orleans I wanted to start my whole career," said Vasquez, who made his second start as a Raptor after doing so in all 18 games with the Kings this season and all 78 he appeared in with New Orleans last year. "But when I came here I really humbled myself and understood that its about winning more than about putting up numbers. I can go out there and play 36 minutes and put up crazy numbers but what about the playoffs? What about making winning plays?" "So Im going to be ready, man. I love this team and Im willing to do whatever it takes." Cheap Barry Bonds Jersey . The Stampeders announced the move on Wednesday. Bell spent his first two CFL seasons with the B. Cheap Willie Stargell Jersey . 22. Wade averaged 26.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.0 steals while leading the Heat to a 3-0 record. The 31-year-old shot 60 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3-point range en route to his 17th weekly honor. http://www.cheappiratesjerseys.com/?tag=...-tekulve-jersey. The United States clinched the final berth into the Ford Worlds, March 28-April 6 at Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, on Saturday in Blaine, Minn. Cheap MLB Jerseys .com) - Minnesota Vikings fans would surely concede Teddy Bridgewater is not Peyton Manning. Cheap Pirates Jerseys . 15-23, the Ottawa Senators will by hoping to avoid going five straight games without a victory for the first time since a 0-3-2 drought from Oct.GREEN BAY - The San Francisco 49ers have gotten the best of the Green Bay Packers in three meetings since the start of the 2012, including a postseason victory in last seasons playoffs. Enter the great equalizer: winter at Lambeau Field. Winter is coming for the wild-carding Niners, who visit the NFC North champion Packers on Sunday afternoon. You can watch all the action on CTV beginning at 4:30pm et/1:30pm pt. These two clubs have seen plenty of each other over the past two seasons. San Francisco snapped an eight-game slide in Green Bay with a 30-22 win in Week 1 of last season, though the temperature was hardly a factor given the game took place on Sept. 9. "You just have to block it out," said 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick of adjusting to the cold weather. Kaepernick took over as the starter for San Francisco midway through the 2012 campaign and helped his club get the better of the visiting Packers in last seasons divisional contest en route to a Super Bowl appearance and loss to the Baltimore Ravens. San Francisco opened its 12-4 campaign with a 34-28 victory over Green Bay, with Kaepernick outgunning Aaron Rodgers in a game that featured 879 yards of total net offense. After torching the Packers with his legs during the playoffs, Kaepernick did it with his arm back in Week 1 with 412 passing yards and three touchdowns to zero interceptions. In his Niners debut after coming over from a Ravens team that beat San Francisco in last seasons Super Bowl, Anquan Boldin had 13 receptions for 208 yards with a touchdown. Rodgers threw for 333 yards with three touchdowns, getting picked off once. Rodgers ended this season with a 104.9 passer rating, becoming the first quarterback in NFL history to surpass a 100 rating in five straight seasons. A broken collarbone sidelined him for seven straight weeks but he returned to lead Green Bay to a season-ending victory over the Chicago Bears to secure the Packers third straight division title. Rodgers shook off some early rust to march Green Bay 87 yards for a game- winning drive, converting three times on fourth down. TThat included a 48-yard touchdown throw to Randall Cobb on 4th-and-8 with 38 seconds to play.dddddddddddd "I looked outside to make sure we had a big play there," Rodgers said. "From the throw I missed Andrew Quarless on earlier in the drive, I knew I had to get a little bit on it to make sure I didnt way underthrow him. When that ball came down and he got into the end zone it was just pandemonium." The former MVP finished the game 25-for-39 for 318 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions for the Packers, who won three of their last four games to finish the season 8-7-1. Cobb, who had been out since fracturing his right tibia on Oct. 13 against Baltimore, caught both touchdown passes by Rodgers, while Jordy Nelson had 10 grabs for 161 yards. Despite having an inferior record to the Niners, the Packers will play host this weekend and are making no apologies for doing so. "Everybodys record right now is the same. Were in the tournament. Theres 12 teams with a chance to the win championship," said Rodgers. "Thats how were looking at it. We won our division to give us the right to host a home playoff game and were going to try and make the most of it." San Francisco, in the playoffs for a third straight season, has won the NFC West in the previous two campaigns before getting unseated by the 13-3 Seattle Seahawks. The Niners had a chance to win the division in Week 17 and did its part by besting Arizona 23-20, but the Seahawks bested the Rams to lock up first place. "Players, coaches dont control who you play, where you play, when you play. The thing you control is how you play," San Francisco head coach Jim Harbaugh said. Boldin made nine catches for 149 yards and a touchdown against his former Cardinals team and Kaepernick threw for 310 yards with a pair of scores. San Francisco, though, needed Phil Dawsons 40-yard field goal as time expired to win its sixth straight game. Including the playoffs, the Packers have won 13 of their last 17 versus the Niners and San Francisco is 11-23 all-time in Green Bay. 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