BOSTON - Depending on whom you ask, it was only a matter of time before the suddenly scorching Toronto Raptors experienced a setback, even a negligible one.http://www.airmaxgronline.com/nike-air-max-90.html . Conditioned to be skeptical following years of false hope, the teams loyal albeit exasperated fan base - or at least a segment of it - has been weary of the dreaded letdown game. "Its the first stinker weve had," coach Dwane Casey said after his much-improved team was stunned by the lowly Celtics, falling 88-83 in Boston, a city in which the Raptors have gone winless over the last six years. It was bound to happen eventually. The Raptors had been remarkably consistent in potential trap games, winning 10 of their last 11 contests against teams with losing records. Still, no one truly believed they would run the table with more than half the season left to be played, no one outside the locker room that is. "No," Kyle Lowry said straight-faced when asked if he saw it coming. "We dont expect to have any letdowns." Its just one game, one night, one of 82. In and of itself, the loss – however disappointing – shouldnt be a cause for concern. Even the best of the best get caught taking their foot off the gas but that doesnt provide solace to a team thats learning to demand more of themselves. "They out-worked us tonight, which is rare for us," Lowry said, his team giving up 19 offensive boards to the Celtics, who had lost nine straight coming into the contest. "It sucks but weve got to learn from this. Everyones pissed off right now, guys are mad and we should be." The Raptors came out flat and could never quite find the groove theyve been playing with for the better part of the last month. It was their most disheartening loss since a Dec. 18 overtime defeat at home to Charlotte and their worst effort since the Spurs ran them out of their own building eight days before that. Leading the division, Toronto owned the best record in the Eastern Conference since its early-December trade. On the other end of the spectrum, the Celtics were quickly sinking to the bottom of the Atlantic, jettisoning their assists-leader to the West Coast hours before hosting the red-hot Raptors on Wednesday. Missing Jordan Crawford, who was traded to Golden State earlier in the afternoon, and Rajon Rondo - expected to return from injury on Friday - the Celtics caught Toronto napping. The Raptors should, but probably wouldnt, appreciate the irony. Undermanned just hours after the Rudy Gay deal was consummated, the Raptors upset the heavily favoured Lakers in Los Angeles just over a month ago. Sometimes youre the windshield, on Wednesday they were the bug. "It started on the boards," Casey said, as the Raptors were out-rebounded 20-7 in the third quarter, when the game began to slip away. "I was disappointed in our rebounding, we just got whipped in every way in the paint." Forward Jared Sullinger grabbed eight of his 20 boards in the third, en route to a career performance. The Celtics sophomore became the first player in the franchises rich history to record at least 25 points, 20 rebounds and four assists in a game since Larry Bird accomplished that feat in 1987. Needless to say, Casey was not thrilled. "None of our bigs did a mans job on the boards tonight (and) thats the ball game," he said. "Anytime you give up that many (second-chance) points, you can point to any big." Jonas Valanciunas had a rough night on both ends of the floor, shooting just 1-of-7 in 23 minutes of action. Amir Johnson was held under 26 minutes, having to leave the game early in the third after tweaking his left ankle. "They played harder than us," Johnson admitted. "We definitely should have come out and won this game." Johnson said the injury did not occur on a specific play, instead it just started to feel sore, similar to what he felt before undergoing surgery on the same ankle in 2011. "It was weird," said Johnson, who was able to return to the game in the fourth quarter after getting treatment in the locker room. "Once I got the tape on it, it felt fine, but it was weird." Johnsons brief absence was costly, Patrick Patterson who had been playing at a high level was underwhelming and Tyler Hansbrough - sitting out his seventh straight, also with a sprained left ankle - was missed. For the first time in over a month Steve Novak was asked to log meaningful minutes as Toronto played catch-up in the fourth. Although the Raptors knocked down 11 threes on 24 attempts from beyond the arch - their fourth straight game with 11 or more treys - both teams shot under 40 per cent from the field. While Boston connected on 26 of their 36 attempts from the line, the Raptors missed a devastating 13 free throws (on 25 attempts), including several down the stretch. Down by as many as 18 in the second half, the Raptors managed to fight back and cut their deficit to three with under a minute remaining. Missed free throws and poor late-game execution was their undoing. "We have to use this as a reminder," said DeMar DeRozan, who led the Raptors with 23 points. "It doesnt matter who we are playing. If its a team we are better than, whatever, teams are still going to go out there and play hard. Boston didnt give up at all. They kept the pressure going on us. They played hard tonight." Nike Air Force 1 Greece .C. United to a 4-1 victory over short-handed FC Dallas on Saturday night. http://www.airmaxgronline.com/nike-air-max-90/nike-air-max-93.html . -- As usual, Aksel Lund Svindal was super fast on this hill. ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Nearly three months after their home opener, the Anaheim Ducks still havent lost a game in regulation at Honda Center. Although Jonas Hiller believes theres no secret to how the Ducks keep rolling at home, not even the powerful Boston Bruins could figure out how to end this remarkable streak by the overall NHL leaders. Mathieu Perreault scored two goals, Hiller made 30 saves in his 12th consecutive victory and the Ducks beat Boston 5-2 Tuesday night for their 14th win in 15 games. Perreault, Corey Perry and Nick Bonino scored power-play goals for the Ducks, who improved to 18-0-2 in Anaheim during the NHLs fifth-longest home points streak to open a season in the last 41 years. The Ducks started awfully slow, managing just two shots in the first 19 minutes while Boston controlled play, but still ended up with yet another comfortable win after a three-goal second period. "Weve proven to ourselves by now that even if were down or havent played our best game, we still find a way to win," said Hiller, who hasnt lost since Dec. 3. "Every night somebody is making a contribution." Andrew Cogliano scored short-handed and Teemu Selanne added two assists in Anaheims eighth consecutive home win, matching its 8-0 streak to open the season. The Ducks opened a nine-point lead over San Jose atop the Pacific Division by scoring a season-high three power-play goals after a long struggle with the man advantage. Hiller, who will represent Switzerland at his second Olympics next month, did much of the rest of the work in his 21st victory. Anaheim already was one of the NHLs most potent teams with an inept power play, but captain Ryan Getzlaf was confident it would improve. "We had been worrying too much about what we had to do instead of just going out and doing it," Getzlaf said. "Were getting good chances out of it, and we know if we play good hockey, we have a chance to win every night." Daniel Paille and Dougie Hamilton scored for the Bruins, who played without forward Milan Lucic for the first time this season due to an illness. Tuukka Rask stopped 15 shots, but the Atlantic Division leaders couldnt oovercome their special-teams woes in the opener of a three-game California road trip. Nike Air Force 1 High Greece. "I actually thought we played a great game, but you look at the scoreboard and its 5-2," Rask said. "They didnt have many chances, but they put them in the net." After a scoreless first period, Anaheim went ahead when Perreault converted a one-timer from Selanne for his eighth goal on a power play. The 43-year-old Selanne, who hadnt scored a point since Dec. 20, was selected to his record-tying sixth Olympic team with Finland earlier in the day. Perry then batted home a loose puck just 10 seconds into the Ducks second power play for his 24th goal of the season. Anaheims power play scored on its third consecutive attempt, including Perrys overtime winner against Vancouver on Sunday night, after a 1-for-34 skid. Daniel Winnik and Cogliano generated another goal on pure hustle late in the period, with Winnik chasing down a puck and feeding it to Cogliano for his second short-handed goal of the season. "We have nobody but ourselves to blame on those," Boston coach Claude Julien said. "I thought we didnt do a very good job there on the PK tonight. It set us back, but we battled right to the end, and I wish we would have had a better chance of tying that game up." Paille ended Hillers shutout bid in the final seconds of the period, getting his fourth goal in five games on a pass from Justin Florek, who scored his first NHL point on the assist. Hamilton then trimmed the Ducks lead to one goal in the third period with his first goal since Nov. 2 on a high shot through heavy traffic in front of Hiller. But after Brad Marchand short-circuited a late Boston power play with an interference penalty, Getzlaf got the puck below the goal line and found Bonino for his third goal in four games. Perreault then beat Rask again with 2:31 to play. NOTES: Before the game, Anaheim put D Bryan Allen on injured reserve with a lower-body injury and recalled D Nolan Yonkman from the AHL. ... Anaheim also scratched F Dustin Penner, who has an upper-body injury. ... The 23-year-old Florek, a Northern Michigan product, made his NHL debut Saturday. cheap nfl jerseyscheap jerseys ' ' '
