Schwarzesbrett » his strength and start swinging.

TORONTO - Once he got going, no one could calm Jonas Valanciunas down, despite Kyle Lowrys best efforts. As Valanciunas was whistled for a rare technical toward the end of the third quarter - a result of waving his hand at an official after being called for a foul - Lowry pulled the Raptors sophomore aside, corralling him by his jersey and patting him on the back. "Youve got to be smart in certain situations," Lowry told the young centre. "I just tried to say look, you cant waste your money." "Yeah, he was trying to calm me down," Valanciunas said of the conversation with his point guard, speaking with a mischievous look on his face following the Raptors 98-91 win over the Cavaliers. "That technical foul cost me, so I feel bad now." He shouldnt. The tech will cost Valanciunas a small fraction of his next paycheque but the unbridled emotion he played with in the second half of Fridays game was the driving force of Torontos rapid turnaround. Valanciunas, like the rest of his team, got off to an ugly start. The Raptors were fortunate to be down by only five going into the break, scoring just 39 points in the first half and shooting 33 per cent from the field. For the third straight game coming out of the All-Star break, Valanciunas got a quick hook in the first quarter. The seven-footer has been strangely quiet of late, averaging under six points in four games entering Fridays contest. His minutes have been down, as hes battled growing pains on the defensive end. After being sent to the bench midway through the opening quarter, he sat for around 12 minutes of game time before re-entering. Somewhere, somehow, someone lit a fire under the sophomore and not only did it spark him, it ignited the whole team. Valanciunas was a possessed man coming out of the halftime break. He was aggressive on defence, manic on the boards and dominant down low. He ran the floor with a purpose, worked to establish position, then demanded the ball. As he turned to face up Clevelands Tyler Zeller midway through the third, he pump faked - not once, but twice - took the contact and drained the jumper. Before completing the three-point play, he pumped his fist in the air and yelled out to the crowd, or the Cavs, or his teammates, or whoever was listening. His face was as red as the logo at centre court. He meant business. "Hes going to have ups and downs but tonight he was intense," Lowry said of Valanciunas, who had 10 points and four rebounds in the third quarter, finishing the game with 18 points and eight boards. "He really kind of carried us with his intensity and his passion and fire tonight." The 21-year-olds inspired play lifted the Raptors in what turned out to be a game-deciding third quarter. Toronto scored 37 points in the frame - two fewer than its first-half total - and shot 70 per cent, turning a five-point deficit at intermission into an 11-point advantage going into the fourth. "Hes our enforcer in the paint," said Amir Johnson, who returned to the starting lineup Friday after coming off the bench in his two previous outings, nursing an ankle injury. "When he gets going, everybody else plays good and that just gets everybody open shots when hes scoring in the paint." Johnson also came to life in the second half, the two bigs even hooked up on an alley-oop lob - from Johnson to Valanciunas - late in game. "We had to give our bigs a wakeup call," Dwane Casey said. "They turned it around in the second half. We reminded them, theres more to the game than the offensive end." "You can do a lot of different things other than make shots," he continued, "and I thought the second half, Amir Johnson and JV worked at it and got it done." Although Valanciunas helped turn the game, the best Raptor on the night - from start to finish - was fellow sophomore Terrence Ross, hands down. Ross scored a team-high 20 points, shooting 9-for-18, but his most important contribution was on the defensive end, where he went toe-to-toe with All-Star Game MVP Kyrie Irving. When the game began, Ross was assigned to check former Raptor Jarrett Jack while Lowry defended Irving. Early in the first quarter, there was a switch and Ross ended up on the Cavs point guard and leading scorer. It stuck for the rest of the evening, and Ross did not disappoint. The Raptors forward used his length and athleticism to frustrate Irving, forcing him to launch tough perimeter jumpers, keeping him out of the paint and holding him to 3-of-16 shooting. "He can score in a lot of different ways [and] get his teammates involved," Ross said of Irving, who ended up with 17 points and nine assists for Cleveland. "So if you slow him down, you slow the team down." "He had to chase [Irving] everywhere," Johnson said of Ross. "He chased him off screens, he didnt quit on plays and thats how you have to play a guy like that. [Irvings] so crafty and hes always moving so you just have to keep a body on him and stay in front of him. [Ross] did a great job." It was Canada Basketball Night at the Air Canada Centre Friday, as local product and first overall pick Anthony Bennett made his NBA debut in Toronto. Bennett, who continues to improve after a slow start to the season, knocked down his first two shots and finished with nine points in 15 minute of action while fellow Canadian Tristan Thompson scored 13 to go along with nine boards. In snapping Clevelands six-game winning streak, the Raptors picked up their 30th win of the campaign, doing so in just 55 games. It took them 78 contests to reach the 30-win mark a year ago. Cheap Ray Ban Sunglasses Online . Braves reliever David Carpenter was also fined for throwing at Rockies outfielder Corey Dickerson in the same game, which featured several ejections, including Colorado manager Walt Weiss. Cheap Ray Ban Sunglasses For Sale . -- Falcons running back Steven Jackson, who has missed the last four games with a hamstring injury, is expected to practice on Wednesday. http://www.cheaprayban.net/ .com) - James Harden had 32 points, including a tying layup late in regulation, and the Houston Rockets scored eight of their 13 points in overtime at the foul line to beat the Memphis Grizzlies 117-111 on Friday night. Cheap Authentic Ray Ban Sunglasses . -- Omar Infante walked past the visiting clubhouse at Kauffman Stadium, where he dressed so many times as a member of the Detroit Tigers, and slipped on a crisp, new Kansas City Royals jersey. Ray Ban Sunglasses Wholesale . The punch happened in the fourth quarter of Milwaukees 116-102 loss to the Kings on Wednesday when the two players became entangled while battling for rebounding position.DENVER -- Colorado Rockies star outfielder Carlos Gonzalez had a small tumour removed from his left index finger Tuesday during a procedure at the Cleveland Clinic. Gonzalez underwent exploratory surgery with Dr. Thomas Graham and a growth was found beneath the sheath around the muscle. Rockies head athletic trainer Keith Dugger said these type of tumors are common and the expectation is a biopsy will determine the tumour is benign. "These little benign tumors, which we hope it is, is probably the second most common finding in the finger besides cysts," Dugger said. "Usually repetitive trauma causes it. "They call them cell tumors. Pretty common within the sheath of these fingers. Usually benign. Occasionally you can come up with something." Gonzalez had his left arm in a sling after the surgery. He is expected to return to Denver Wednesday. "It helps explain some of the things that CarGos been dealing with and why that finger kept blowing up on him," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. "It helps answer some of the questions we had about him. Gonzalez has been experiencing soreness and swelling in the finger for a while. He was examined by Graham on May 29 in Cleveland. He continued to play but was placed on the 15-day DL on June 4 and is expectted to miss a few weeks.dddddddddddd "Typically, its a couple weeks for the tissue to heal," Dugger said. "Then hell get back his strength and start swinging. It was a little bit more invasive, meaning they took out a larger piece than they thought -- what the MRI revealed." Gonzalez has dealt with finger issues in the past. Last season he played in just 19 games after the All-Star break due to a sprained middle finger on his right hand. That injury did not require surgery. Colorado has been hit hard with injuries in the last month. Third baseman Nolan Arenado (broken left finger) is expected to miss another month and outfielder Michael Cuddyer is out for at least six weeks with a fractured left shoulder suffered Thursday. The rotation has been decimated as well. Jordan Lyles (broken hand), Tyler Chatwood (right elbow strain), Brett Anderson (fractured left index finger) and rookie Eddie Butler (right rotator cuff inflammation) are on the disabled list. Left-hander Tyler Matzek, the teams first-round pick in 2009, will be the third Rockies pitcher in a week to make his major league debut when he starts Wednesdays game. "Its something as a professional team weve got to push through, push forward," Cuddyer said. ' ' '