DALLAS - Irate after another botched defensive assignment and an easy lay-in for the Mavericks, Dwane Casey called a timeout less than two minutes into the second quarter. wholesale jerseys . At the time Dallas held a 15-point advantage, they would lead by as many as 19 early in the frame. So what was said in that timeout? "This is a PG-rated show, so I cant really say it," Casey joked after the game. Whatever it was, it worked. Casey challenged their pride. So too did the Mavericks, who had knocked them down, both literally and figuratively. As three Raptor players went to the ground, scrambling for the rebound as time expired in overtime - following a missed floater from Monta Ellis - it became clear, they had taken the challenge personally, and prevailed. "We were sleepwalking, kind of emotionally [hung over] from our close loss the other night I thought, maybe feeling sorry for ourselves," Casey said after his teams 109-108 victory, two days following a heartbreaking OT defeat to Charlotte at home. "I had to get their attention." "Guys responded. They came out swinging. We were down 19, they hit us with a haymaker and Im proud of the way our guys fought back. Thats what the NBA is all about." The Raptors gave the home team a 16-minute head start before closing out the first half on a 27-11 run. Once they showed up, tightened some screws on defence and matched Dallas physicality, they showed a lot of character. "We just held ourselves accountable," said Amir Johnson, who blanketed Dirk Nowitzki on the final play of regulation and contested Ellis runner as time expired in OT. "We took it as a team, like look, were not going to win this game if we dont get defensive stops." Looking at the box score it seems strange to say the Raptors won this game on the defensive end. The Mavs shot 51 per cent from the floor, 10-of-21 from three-point range, outscored Toronto 60-40 in the paint and recorded 31 assists on 26 field goals. But the Raptors defence was timely. They got big stops when they needed them the most, working hard for each one. It was a gritty effort on an unforgiving stage -- the Mavs had the second best home record in the West at 11-2. It was also another page in the book of DeMar DeRozans continued evolution into star-player status. Evident early on, DeRozan was going to have a tough time getting his shot to fall against this Mavericks defence. Without Rudy Gay around to attract attention, opponents have been zeroing in on the Raptors guard and the Mavs - using elite, veteran defender Shawn Marion, among others - were no different. Instead, DeRozan embraced the attention, matching a career-high with nine assists. Most importantly, he came through when it mattered most. DeRozan was 3-for-14 before hitting the game-tying jumper at the end of regulation and going 2-of-3 in OT. "I understand a lot of teams, mostly all the teams, are going to key into me so I used that to my advantage and just tried to get my teammates going," said DeRozan, who finished with 15 points. "They help me get easy baskets once they knock down shots and put me in the best situation at the end of games to get a bucket when we need one." Kyle Lowry led the team with 20 points, also adding six assists while Jonas Valanciunas bounced back from a tough outing in the loss to Charlotte with a double-double of 18 points and 13 rebounds. Defensively, the heroes were Johnson and newcomer John Salmons, who were assigned to the red-hot Nowitzki and Ellis down the stretch. With Johnson draped all over him, Nowitzki missed a 13-foot step back jumper - a shot he might as well have patented - at the end of the fourth quarter. When Ellis caught the ball with 10 seconds remaining in OT, the plan for Caseys club was to commit the foul they still had left to give. As the Mavs guard put the ball on the floor, Johnson - who switched onto Ellis - opted to play it out. "I just took it in my own hands to just try to play him straight up, man-to-man," Johnson said. "It was a great decision I guess because he missed the shot." Jose Calderon led the Mavs in scoring with 23 points, adding nine assists with just one turnover against his former team. Calderon shot 7-for-10 from three-point range, where hes shooting a career-high 47 per cent this season, his first in Dallas. The 32-year-old point guard greeted his old teammates and coaches with hugs following the Mavs shoot around Friday morning but was all business once the ball was tossed up. "Thats just Jose, man," said DeRozan, who played with Calderon for four-plus seasons in Toronto. "It seems like every time the ball leaves his hand its going in. Hes, in my opinion, one of the best shooters in the league, without a doubt. So its not surprising to me." cheap nfl jerseys . Phoenix originally signed Barbosa to a 10-day contract on Jan. 8 after Eric Bledsoe injured his knee and then signed him to another 10-day deal. cheap jerseys from china . He can hide it with the helmet hell need now that hes back in the race car. Hinchcliffe, from Oakville, Ont., was cleared to drive Thursday by IndyCars medical team following a concussion Saturday in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis. PARIS -- With dramatic first and last tries, France stole a 26-24 win over England on Saturday to restore some Six Nations confidence in a team shaken by last years wooden spoon embarrassment. Right winger Yoann Huget scored the first try after 30 seconds and, after England rallied from 16-3 down to lead 24-19 with four minutes left, centre Gael Fickou collected a pass from fellow substitute Dimitri Szarzewski after the hooker made a superb run down the left. Fickou cut inside his marker and ran round behind the posts. Maxime Machenaud kicked the extras. "We were the first to shoot and the last to shoot," France coach Philippe Saint-Andre said. "In the second half we really struggled physically and missed a lot of tackles. But the watchword was to never ease up. In terms of confidence and for 2014 its a very important win. We caused the English quite a few problems in the first half. But they attacked us through the middle and made it very hard for us in that zone." With its third win in its last 12 tests, France should avert the wooden spoon with Italy next up at home. "Last year we had a lot of setbacks, but thats also what unites a team," captain Pascal Pape said. "Its been a long time since Ive seen the players smiling like that in the dressing room. So lets savour it tonight and go back to work tomorrow." England, runner-up in the last two Six Nations, travels to Scotland next weekend. "Having got ourselves back in the game, to lose from that position was very disappointing," England coach Stuart Lancaster said. "It was a great performance in lots of ways. Once we get away from the initial disappointment well take a lot of positives from the game." Lancaster gave "credit to the French team for how they created the opportunity from inside their own half" but underlined his teams need to limit mistakes. "Games are never won or lost in one moment," he said. "Everything matters at this level." England had punished weak defending to go within minutes of an improbable victory. No. 8 Billy Vunipola was the heaviest player on the pitch and Englands most dangerous runner, setting up bothh tries for fullback Mike Brown and outside centre Luther Burrell on debut. wholesale nfl jerseys. "There were five of our pack making their first starts here in France -- the youngest pack in the championship," Lancaster said. "I think weve learnt a lot from this." Huget scored two tries for France in the first half. Both sides are in somewhat of a rebuilding process. Saint-Andre surprisingly chose scrumhalf Jules Plisson alongside flyhalf Jean-Marc Doussain -- both are 22 and had never played together -- while Alexandre Flanquart won only his third cap. Winger Jack Nowell also made his England debut. "We took the challenge of showing these young players the highest level and, believe me, they experienced it," Saint-Andre said. Huget brought Stade de France to its feet in the first minute. Plissons kick ahead deflected into the path of Huget, who scooped it up and ran into the right corner for an unconverted score. England charged straight back and, following a period of pressure, England flyhalf Owen Farrell nailed a difficult kick from wide right to make it 5-3. But Doussain slotted over from close range for 8-3. But it was on the other flank where England struggled, and after a turnover, Doussain kicked ahead. The bounce favoured Huget and his pace took him clear for his fifth international try. Doussain missed the conversion but made amends with a more straightforward penalty kick for 16-3. Moments before the interval, Brown wriggled his way past three defenders and into the left corner. France was up 16-8 at halftime. The French led at halftime last year at Twickenham before losing 23-13, but this time held on. After Farrell made it 16-11 with a penalty, he exquisitely timed a pass for Vunipola to burst through the midfield, and with French players hanging off him he offloaded for Burrell to sprint in for a converted score. Cares dropped goal made it 21-16. Replacement scrumhalf Machenaud slotted a penalty, but Alex Goode responded shortly after to leave France needing some magic. England left winger Jonny May left the field in the second half with a broken nose, but after Fickous late try it was a case of broken English hearts. ' ' '
