TORONTO -- For a young Toronto Raptors squad that had almost no playoff experience, Saturdays Game 1 had a little bit of everything -- from a faulty shot clock, to a GM hollering a profanity and a deliriously loud crowd dying for a post-season victory. Alex Burrows Jersey . It was a loss. But it was also a learning experience. Deron Williams and Joe Johnson had 24 points each to lift Brooklyn to a 94-87 win over the Raptors, making their first playoff appearance since 08. "I thought we played a little bit as expected as it is our first playoff game," Toronto coach Dwane Casey said. "But still as bad as we played, we put ourselves in position to win and thats the approach we have to take. The series is now at only one game, there is still a lot of basketball to be played." Kyle Lowry, whose locker had a sign overhead that read "Good luck dad," had 22 points for Toronto. Jonas Valanciunas had 17 points and 18 boards in his first post-season appearance. "Just keep playing," was Lowrys message to his teammates after the loss. Greivis Vasquez added 18 points while DeMar DeRozan finished with 14 on an afternoon punctuated by Raptors GM Masai Ujiris apology for dropping an F-bomb when addressing a crowd, and the shot clock that malfunctioned midway through the third quarter. The Raptors might be the Atlantic Division champs and No. 3 seed in the East but theyre considered underdogs in this series based on experience -- or lack thereof. The Nets starting five came in with a combined 417 post-season starts. Torontos starters: zero. But if they felt any pressure, Valanciunas and Lowry certainly didnt show it. The 21-year-old Valanciunas became the first Raptor since Tracy McGrady in 2000 to record a double-double in his playoff debut and also set a record for rebounds (Keon Clarks 16 boards versus Detroit in 2002 was the previous mark). "I tell you what, I thought Jonas played big-time, he really did," Casey said. "He grew up today, that was huge for us." Paul Pierce added 15 points for the Nets and was especially lethal down the stretch, scoring nine points in the final 2:58. Shaun Livingston had 10 points as Brooklyn had 17 points off 19 Toronto turnovers. The Raptors rallied from an early 12-point deficit to take a one-point lead early in the third, but it was short-lived as Brooklyn led 67-62 heading into the fourth quarter. A basket by Lowry, then a three-pointer by Vasquez gave Toronto a 76-75 lead with 5:13 to play, but Brooklyn responded with seven straight points -- capped with a Pierce three-pointer -- to take a six-point lead with three minutes remaining. Pierce raised his hands and gestured to the crowd after his long bomb. "It was just emotions flying high, playoffs, close game, taking some shots, making some shots," Pierce said. "I really feed off the emotions of the crowd, especially on the road . . . I think its more gratifying than winning at home, I love those moments." The Raptors pulled to within five points several times over the final couple of minutes but could come no closer, sending the series into Game 2 on Tuesday at the Air Canada Centre with the Nets leading 1-0. The series shifts to Brooklyn for Game 3 on Friday. Toronto forward Amir Johnson said turnovers proved costly for the Raptors. "Tough game. Our turnovers really hurt us," he said. "They really beat us in the third quarter. All around we played good basketball, there were just a lot of turnovers." Emotions ran high even before this series started, with talk the Nets tanked down the stretch -- losing four of their last five -- to purposely drop to sixth so theyd face the less-experienced Raptors. Ujiri took the stage before the afternoon game to address pumped-up fans at Maple Leaf Square. The moment seemed to get to him as he paired an F-bomb and Brooklyn on his way off the stage. "I apologize to kids out there and to the Brooklyn guys," Ujiri said at halftime. "Nothing against them. Just trying to get our fans going. Thats it." He offered over his shoulder as he walked away: "You know how I feel. I dont like them (the Nets), but I apologize." Casey wasnt offended by Ujiris remarks. "Thats Masai, thats why our team plays like that," Casey said. "Hes a fiery guy, and that should represent how we feel. I dont have any offence of it whatsoever." Adding to an already strange afternoon, the shot clock went black with 5:57 left in the third, and after a 10-minute delay, it was decided the game would be played without one. Announcer Herbie Kuhn counted down the clock from 10 seconds on every possession. "Its not that disruptive, it is what it is," Lowry said. "You cant make excuses." The soldout Air Canada Centre crowd of 19,800, that included hip-hop artist Drake, former Raptors star Alvin Williams and Toronto FC GM Tim Bezbatchenko, was a sea of white, thanks to a pre-game T-shirt giveaway. They waved white towels. They stood and hollered for much of the game, breaking into random chants of "K-G sucks!" in reference to Nets veteran Kevin Garnett. "It was unbelievable, the atmosphere of the crowd, the intensity, the noise," Lowry said. "I can tell you the Brooklyn Nets, they were like Speak up, I cant hear, its loud in here. So it definitely affected them a little bit." Anthem singer Michael Ciufo sang the first verse of O Canada, then held up the mic and let the crowd take over, making for a stirring start to the afternoon. Outside, Maple Leaf Square was jam-packed as red-clad Raptors fans watched the game on the huge screen outside -- an idea that started with the Toronto Maple Leafs brief playoff run last year. Saturdays front page of a Toronto newspaper referred to Pierce, whos 36, and Garnett (37) as "dinosaurs." Pierce said he didnt see the paper. But when asked if hed ever played a game without a shot clock, he replied to much laughter from the media: "I dont remember if Ive ever played without it since Im a dinosaur. Its been so long." A grinning Pierce tried to chuck his headband up into the crowd as he trotted off the court after the game. Twice, fans threw it back. A reporter noted that Toronto fans clearly didnt want it. "Yes they did," Pierce said laughing. "They knew they had the cameras on them, they wanted to have pride. The third (throw) was a charm." The Raptors shot 39 per cent on the night, while the Nets shot 42. Toronto outrebounded Brooklyn 45-37. DeRozan and Terrence Ross both had shaky afternoons for Toronto -- the Nets did a great job in shutting down DeRozan, and Ross seemed to get flustered after picking up a couple of early fouls. "Weve got to make adjustments to help (DeRozan)," Casey said. "This is the time you do step up and nobody wants to win more than DeMar DeRozan. "His heart is into it, hes got sweat equity into this team. Again everybody is going to have an off night. Their whole gameplan was to take him out and theyre a veteran team and they did." Toronto (48-34) and Brooklyn (44-38) split four meetings during the regular season, with each team winning once on the opponents court. The Raptors had only opened the playoffs at home in one other year, in 2007 -- incidentally also against the (then-New Jersey) Nets. Toronto, also Atlantic Division champions that year, lost in five games. Valanciunas scored the teams first eight points of the game, and Lowry poured in 11 first-quarter points, but otherwise Johnson -- with two points -- was the only other contributor on the offensive end in opening frame. The Nets galloped out on an 18-2 run capped by a three from Williams to go up by 12 points with three minutes left in the first, and took a 29-21 lead into the second. Vasquez, with 10 second-quarter points, led the Raptors in a 14-6 run to open the frame and Toronto pulled even eight minutes before halftime. The Nets took a 50-46 advantage into the dressing room at the half. The Raptors had a brief one-point lead early in the third thanks to a three-pointer by Ross, but couldnt maintain it. The Nets led by eight before Lowry drained a three-pointer at the buzzer, pumping his fist as it cut Brooklyns lead to 67-62. Chris Higgins Authentic Jersey .Y. - Centre Corban Knight scored 3:30 into overtime, and the Abbotsford Heat rallied to edge the Utica Comets 5-4 on Wednesday in American Hockey League play. Kevin Bieksa Jersey . Aduriz headed home Markel Susaetas cross in the sixth minute to open the scoring at San Mames Stadium. He bettered that with a long-range blast that went in off the goal frame in the 18th, and converted a penalty in the 72nd after Diego Mainz was sent off for fouling Aduriz with only the goalkeeper to beat.LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Clayton Kershaws first home win of the season was a perfect example of how the two-time Cy Young Award winner has made a living out of pitching through early adversity and getting stronger as the game goes along. Kershaw shrugged off a two-run homer by Jose Abreu in the rookies return from the disabled list, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Chicago White Sox 5-2 Monday night. "It was one pitch. Thats all it was tonight. One pitch. But he was great all the way to his last one," Dodgers catcher Drew Butera said. Kershaw (4-2) allowed four hits over eight innings, striking out nine and walking none. Kenley Jansen got three outs for his 17th save. "I think Kershaw just continues to fight no matter what. If they get him once, hes going to keep it right there," Dodgers pitching coach Rick Honeycutt said. "Hes not happy about the home run, but hes able to put it behind him and keep going. Thats the sign of a guy with a short memory. The great ones dont worry about the past. They just know what theyve got to do going forward." Justin Turners two-run single keyed a five-run sixth inning in which all the Dodgers runs were unearned. "Thats how you win games. You take advantage of one little mistake, and a lot of times it ends up rolling into a big inning," outfielder Scott Van Slyke said. "Good teams do that. When they get the opportunity, they take advantage." Jose Quintana (3-5) gave up six hits through six innings and was charged with all five unearned runs. The Dodgers parlayed two infield errors, four singles and a walk into the five-run rally that put them ahead. All the runs came with two outs. Kershaw led off with a single and Matt Kemp reached on one-out grounder that went under second baseman Gordon Beckhams glove for an error with the infield overshifted to the left side. Yasiel Puig struck out on a high fastball and slammed his bat in frustration, but the Dodgers got a break when third baseman Conor Gillaspie fielded Hanley Ramirezs grounder behind the bag and bounced his throw past first base as Kershaw scored. "He had a chance to get the force at third, but thats an error and thats part of it," Chicago manager Robin Ventura said. "Q pitched a great game, going inning for inning with Kershaw, and he deserved a better fate. Theres no two ways about it. But when you dont play defence, and give a team like that opportunities, you leave that littlle crack in the door. Henrik Sedin Black Jersey. And they kicked it wide open." Adrian Gonzalez drove in Kemp with an infield hit, and Quintana gave up a two-run single to Turner and an RBI single to Butera after a walk to Van Slyke. "Its always fun to get hits, and its always fun when youre part of the run-scoring," Kershaw said. "Sometimes with us, it takes a couple times to get through the lineup. I knew if I just kind of kept us in the game, gave us a chance, we were going to break out." Kershaw needed only 12 pitches to get through the first two innings and retired his first 10 batters before Beckham singled and Abreu followed with his 16th homer. The Cuban slugger was leading the majors in homers and ranked second in RBIs with 42 before missing 14 games with tendinitis in his left ankle. The White Sox were 8-6 in his absence. "It was nice, coming against a guy like Kershaw," Ventura said. "It didnt seem like he missed too much of a beat. When we have that guy swinging the bat good, were a better offence." The only other baserunner the White Sox had against Kershaw through the first six innings was Moises Sierra, who hit a dribbler to the right of the mound and beat the left-handers throw to first base with two outs in the fifth. Kershaw, who led the majors in ERA each of the previous three seasons, made only 66 pitches through six. "I was throwing strikes. They were swinging and my pitch count was low those first four, five innings," Kershaw said. "Theyve got some aggressive guys over there. It doesnt really bother me as long as I make my pitches early." NOTES: The Dodgers announced after the game that RHP Chris Withrow will undergo Tommy John surgery Tuesday. ... Abreu set major league rookie records for homers (10), RBIs (32), extra-base hits (19) and total bases (71) in April and was named AL rookie of the month. ... Beckham committed another error in the seventh, booting a routine grounder by Puig. ... Abreu and Puig, teammates with Cienfuegos before defecting from Cuba to the United States, are among six Cuban-born players in uniform for this series. The others are Alexei Ramirez, Dayan Viciedo, Adrian Nieto, and the Dodgers Erisbel Arruebarrena. ... Ventura gave 1B-DH Adam Dunn the night off even though he is 8 for 13 against Kershaw with four home runs. ... Quintana has not allowed a home run in 43 1-3 innings over his last seven starts, after giving up one in each of his previous four outings. wholesale jerseyscheap jerseys ' ' '
