Die Nacktbar » . A three-point play by Valanciunas

TORONTO -- Late in the third quarter Friday night, some angry jostling between John Salmons and Paul George quickly turned into a shoving match. The dust-up brought the cheering crowd at the Air Canada Centre to its feet and earned both players matching technical fouls. But even more, said Salmons, it said everything about this Toronto Raptors team. Theyre not afraid of anyone. Terrence Ross led the way with 24 points as the short-handed Raptors slayed another significant foe, defeating the Indiana Pacers 102-94. "Were not going to back down from anybody, were not going to quit, were going to be there, were going to fight," Salmons said. "Our leader (Kyle Lowry) hasnt been playing the last two games, but were still fighting. . . Were definitely not going to back down, were going to continue to fight." Jonas Valanciunas added 22 points and nine rebounds, while DeMar DeRozan scored 20 points and doled out nine assists for the Raptors (44-32), who claimed their fifth win in six starts despite missing starters Lowry and Amir Johnson. "We feel like we can beat anybody when we step out there on the court," said DeRozan. "Theyre a top team in the east, and thats a team that were fighting to be in their position. Tonight was a big game at this time of the season." Greivis Vasquez and Nando De Colo had 10 points apiece, while Patrick Patterson, who started in place of Johnson in only his third game since missing 11 with an elbow injury, had seven boards. Paul George had 26 points to top the Pacers (53-24), while David West added 21. "This is a playoff team," George said of Toronto. "Down the stretch they just got a lot of bounces that created second shots for them. If you give a playoff team another look or an opportunity they are going to knock you down." There was a definite post-season vibe to the Eastern Conference battle between two teams that could potentially meet in the second round of the playoffs. The Pacers had led the East all season until a recent slide saw them fall below the Miami Heat on percentage points. The playoff-bound Raptors are third in the conference. "Were a scrappy team, a scrappy grind-it-out team, so if one player goes down, we have other players that can come in, help us off the bench, give us that same spark," Ross said. "Thats how weve been winning games." It was see-saw battle for the first half before the Raptors cobbled together an 11-point lead in the third quarter, but it was short-lived as Indiana outscored Toronto 22-11 to send the game into the fourth tied 75-75. The Pacers went on a quick 7-0 run midway through the quarter to take a three-point lead, but the resilient Raptors responded with a run of their own, and when Valanciunas grabbed his own rebound and finished with a lovely hook shot, it put Toronto up 96-94 with three minutes to play. Valanciunas would score the next basket to make it a four-point lead, and the Raptors held fast on the defensive end the rest of the way, to the delight of the fans at Air Canada Centre, who were on their feet for the final few minutes. When DeRozan stepped to the line to calmly drain two free throws with 13 seconds left, the crowd chanted "M-V-P!" It was the second straight game without Lowry, who has a bruised kneecap, and Johnson -- although Johnson did play three minutes in Wednesdays 107-103 win over Houston before leaving the game. Dressed smartly in a charcoal suit, Lowry could have been mistaken for one of the coaches and he hollered at teammates and gave instructions from the bench. "Id rather see Kyle in uniform than in street clothes and coaching. I told Kyle this all the time, that when he becomes a coach, I cannot wait to come watch his teams play," Raptors coach Dwane Casey said, laughing. "Im going to be that heckler in the stands Boo coach!" DeRozan added dryly: "(The coaching) was a little bit worse than he does when hes in the game with you, because he doesnt stop talking." The Raptors have six games to go in their quest for the Atlantic Division title, and their battle for a favourable opponent in the post-season. Theyre also on pace for their best regular-season record ever. Their most wins in a season is 47, set in 2000-01 and 2006-07. The good news: Indiana was the Raptors last opponent with a plus-.500 record. And of their remaining opponents, they play Milwaukee -- the leagues worst team -- twice, and Philadelphia (second worst) once. "(The division title) is important, (but) its not worth jeopardizing someones health," Casey said. "Weve got players who are nicked up, banged up, weve got to make sure theyre healthy and we cant run them into the ground at the sake of trying to win now." The Pacers have been struggling, losing three straight and five of six before a win over Detroit on Wednesday. Still, Casey wasnt about to take anything away from the Raptors win. "Its a win. Its a W. Whatever the deal is (with the Pacers), theyve won 53 games, thats the way I look at it," Casey said. "Its a quality win." Ross shot 4-for-4 for 10 points in an opening quarter that saw 10 lead changes and neither team lead by more than four. The Pacers took a 28-27 advantage into the second. The back-and-forth battle continued into the second before the Raptors took control with a 15-5 run, capped by a Valanciunas layup, to send Toronto into the dressing room with a 54-46 halftime lead. A three-point play by Valanciunas gave the Raptors their biggest lead of the game -- 11 points -- midway through the third, but Indiana buckled down on defence and it was all tied up with 12 minutes to play. NOTES: The Raptors are at Milwaukee on Saturday then get a much-needed three-day break before hosting Philadelphia on Wednesday. . . Hip-hop artist and Raptors global ambassador Drake had a courtside seat. Wholesale NFL Store . Salah, who scored against Chelsea in two Champions League group matches this season, is Jose Mourinhos third significant recruit in the January transfer window after Nemanja Matic and Bertrand Traore. NFL Gear From China . They wanna make t-shirts about it and sell them at our next hockey game..DB: Wow, they want to make t-shirts? That sounds pretty amazing.MS: Yeah, I was also on the Top 10, I was number 1 today, so that was pretty cool. http://www.jerseyschinanfl.com/ . With Van Osch out with a flu bug that has been rampaging through the tournament, Knezevic stepped in to lead B.C. (4-3) to a pair of victories on Tuesday before 1,131 at the Maurice Richard Arena. Cheap NFL Jerseys China Online . The game got off to a less-than-ideal start for the Jets as Oliver Ekman-Larsson found a wide open net from the slot and opened the scoring for the Coyotes a lead in the first period, but Olli Jokinen answered back just over half a minute later. Wholesale Jerseys NFL . -- Zach Johnson asked his short-iron approach on the par-4 18th to "Do something right, baby. DENVER -- Matt Duchene was simply going for a cross-ice pass. A fortunate bounce turned it into the winning goal. The Colorado forward didnt know it until the roar of the crowd clued him in. Duchene scored 2:33 into overtime, and Semyon Varlamov stopped 33 shots to lift the Avalanche to a 3-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets on Monday night. "Were all pretty exhausted," Duchene said. "I felt like I was back in high school playing hockey, but those games are fun to win." Duchene got free after a nifty move in the corner and saw Ryan OReilly on the far side. Duchene tried to thread a pass to him, only to have it hit the stick of Jets defenceman Tobias Enstrom and bounce in the air. The puck hit Duchene in the leg, dropped down to his stick. From there he lifted it over backup goalie Al Montoya. "I didnt even know it went in," said Duchene, who has a point in a career-high eight straight games. "I just heard the crowd cheering, and I figured it went past him. It was a good bounce, nice to get that one." Montoya was almost as surprised. "I dont even remember it. I really dont, sorry about that," he said. "I know the puck bounced in front of me, was poked in front of me, and it landed right on the guys tape." Enstrom made quite a save to make sure the game reached overtime. Late in the third period, Enstrom dove after a puck that was rolling toward the net. He swatted it away just before it crossed the line. Jets coach Paul Maurice didnt fault Enstroms attempted clear. "Just a little bad luck in front of the net," Maurice said. "Bobbled the puck and its in the back." John Mitchell, Andre Benoit and Duchene provided an offensive spark on a night the Avs lost another forward when P.A. Parenteau hurt his right knee early in the game. They were already without Paul Stastny, who was sidelined because of a sore back. Avs coach Patrick Roy said Parenteau could miss significant time with an MCL injury. "I think hes going to miss the remainder of the regular season, and well see for the playoffs," Roy said.dddddddddddd"(Tuesday), well know more. Im just guessing right now." Winnipeg had a 2-on-1 opportunity in overtime, but Varlamov deflected Olli Jokinens shot into the netting behind the goal. Colorado scored 4:38 into the second period on a goal originally credited to rookie Nathan MacKinnon, when it looked as though he tapped in a pass from Mitchell. But the goal was later awarded to Mitchell after the puck appeared to hit off the stick of Jets defenceman Zach Bogosian. The lead didnt last long as Byfuglien scored twice in a span of 1:48. He tapped his first goal past Varlamov on a power play. Later, Byfuglien bounced a puck off Varlamovs left skate from near the boards behind the net. Benoit tied it with 12 seconds remaining in the second on a slap shot from near the blue line. It was a frenetic first period that featured no scoring but plenty of big hits and a penalty shot by Jim Slater after Marc-Andre Cliche hooked him from behind. Slater couldnt capitalize, though, lining his shot into Varlamovs glove. Varlamov later turned back Evander Kane on another breakaway attempt. The Jets were flummoxed by Varlamov all period, even running into the Colorado goalie twice and drawing penalties. The Avs were on the power play four times in the first period, but couldnt sneak anything past Montoya, who gave Ondrej Pavelec the night off. Colorado lost Parenteau in a collision near the blue line with Mark Stuart less than four minutes into the game. After a quick rest, Parenteau momentarily returned to the ice to test out the knee before heading into the dressing room. "He was in pain, but you know P.A.," Roy said. "Hes a great team guy, and he wanted give it a try." NOTES: Jets F John Albert left in the second period because of an upper body injury and didnt return. ... F Bryan Little recorded two assists, giving him 52 points for the season, which is a career high. ... Varlamov earned his 32nd win of the season. ' ' '