d hes angry that hasnt always been the case. Theres frustr

TORONTO -- After a wobbly playoff debut, Raptors star DeMar DeRozan returned to attack mode for Game 2 against the Brooklyn Nets. The 24-year-old Toronto guard had just 14 points in Game 1, with eight of those coming from the free throw line, in a 94-87 loss to visiting Brooklyn that saw DeRozan miss 10 of 13 shots. On Tuesday, a different DeRozan took the court. As he approached the Nets basket, it was if his brain was in overdrive as it diagrammed possible plays. The possibilities seemed endless -- dish off to a teammate, drive to the basket, pull back and take a shot. The Raptors will need more of the same Friday when the series switches to Brooklyns Barclays Center for Game 3. While Toronto preaches a team approach, the Raptors know good things happen when DeRozan is rolling. "I was just trying to feed him," Toronto guard Greivis Vasquez said of Game 2. "I was just trying to get him the ball -- it was just Go, go. We need you to get confidence." Mission accomplished. DeRozan finished with 30 points, 17 of which came in the fourth quarter when he made four of five shots and nine of 11 free throws. He finished the game on five fouls, hanging his head at one point at the end of the bench while his teammates huddled during a timeout. But he was on point when he returned to action in the 100-95 win. DeRozans fourth-quarter output was just two points off the club playoff record of 19, set in 2001 by Vince Carter against Philadelphia. Again and again, DeRozan answered the veteran Nets as they tried to claw their way back. For coach Dwane Casey, DeRozan showed his maturity by taking the shots the defence was giving him rather than trying to force things. "Hes growing," said Casey. "Hes still not a finished product. Weve just seen the beginning of a guy becoming a star." Tuesdays playoff performance was clearly a big step forward on DeRozans young career path. "He knows he can do it in a high-intensity situation," said guard Kyle Lowry. "It just show hes growing," he added. "Hes an all-star for a reason." DeRozans practice regimen includes a variety of difficult shots. He also lifts weights before each games, so he feels like he has the strength to hoist shots from all angles. "If I feel I can get the shot off, I feel like it has a good chance of going in," DeRozan said. It showed Tuesday. His scoring was of the spectacular variety, bringing the sellout crowd of 20,382 to its feet. "You never know what kind of shot youre going to need to shoot at a certain time," he said. Vasquez drove baseline at one point before firing the ball back to the six-foot-seven DeRozan, who attacked the basket, transferred the ball from his right hand to his left in the air and then dunked with authority, "An unbelievable dunk," said the six-foot-six Venezuelan. "I dream about those dunks because I cant even dunk." "He really deserves everything he gets, all the attention and all that stuff he gets because hes our franchise player, hes our best player," he added. "I think for him to do what he did (Tuesday) night was a really huge step to shut a lot people up -- Dont talk about me because Ive got it." DeRozan, meanwhile, said the difference between Game 1 and 2 was he was more aggressive and decisive. How important is DeRozan to the Raptors? He led the team in scoring 42 times during the 2013-14 regular season. He was tied for ninth in league scoring (22.7), fourth in minutes (38.4), fourth in made free throws (519) and fifth in free throws attempted (630). In Brooklyn, Toronto will continue to look to take advantage of its speed and athleticism while hoping to maintain its advantage on the boards. Casey is also looking for a better start to the third quarter, rather than waiting for the fourth to kick into the high gear. "We are the top fourth-quarter team in the league but we cant wait until the fourth quarter in the playoffs," he said. "Weve got to come out hard-charging out of the locker-room." The series marks Torontos first playoff action since 2008. Tomorrow night at 7pm et its Game 3 of the Raptors first round playoff series as they visit the Brooklyn Nets and TSN, TSN 1050 and tsn1050.ca have it live. Jim Tatti, Duane Watson and our travelling Raptors reporter Josh Lewenberg have the pre game starting at 6:30p, followed at 7p with Paul Jones and Sherman Hamilton calling all the action. Tatti, Watson, Lewenberg and Gareth Wheeler are back after the final buzzer with a full hour of complete post game analysis. Raptors fans can tune in to all the game coverage on 1050AM in the GTA or if they are in Southern Ontario they can catch the game live streaming online at tsn1050.ca or on the TSN GO App. Daniel Jones Jersey . The teams all-time leading scorer, DeRo has won everything there is to win in MLS. Odell Beckham Jr Jersey . Span, Danny Espinosa and Adam LaRoche had two hits apiece as Washington won the final two games of the series. The Nationals improved to 3-7 against Atlanta. They increased their division lead over the Braves to 1 1/2 games. http://www.giantsrookiestore.com/Giants-Julian-Love-Jersey/ .Mihajlovic was sent off minutes from the end of Thursdays 2-0 win over Brescia and has been punished for using a disrespectful expression toward the fourth official and throwing the contents of a bottle of water at him, thus assuming an intimidating attitude. Carl Banks Giants Jersey . Rasmussen didnt have a decision during his four appearances in May, when he gave up two hits and no runs in two innings. Toronto used five relievers while pulling off the second-biggest comeback in franchise history on Friday night, rallying from an 8-0 deficit to a 14-9 win. Odell Beckham Jr Womens Jersey . Maximilian Arnold put Wolfsburg ahead in the eighth minute, when the stationary Fallou Diagne allowed him to guide Patrick Ochs cross beyond the helpless Freiburg goalkeeper, and Ivica Olic doubled the lead three minutes later after Luiz Gustavo did well to set him up.TORONTO – Drew Hutchison wants you to know that hes healthy. He will dispel any notion to the contrary when its used to try to explain his inconsistency. “I feel the exact same every time Ive taken the mound this year,” said Hutchison. “Its frustrating because I expect myself not to be inconsistent and thats what I get. Its frustrating.” Hutchisons injury history has been well chronicled. As a 21-year-old, Hutchison was an early season call-up in 2012, less than three years after he was drafted out of Lakeland (Florida) Senior High School. He impressed in 11 starts between April and June, but was lost for the season upon tearing the ulnar ligament in his pitching elbow. He underwent the famous Tommy John reconstruction surgery and returned, pitching in the minor leagues, late last season. This season, hes already surpassed his innings total of last year. The Blue Jays have already negotiated their rotation to afford Hutchison extra rest on one occasion and its likely other spots will be cherry-picked through the year. Hutchison has pitched much better on the road than at home. He has been better on extra rest, five days or more in between starts, than he has been when pitching on the regular four days of down time. He simplified his Sunday struggles, during which he allowed five earned runs in only three innings of work in the Jays 5-0 loss to St. Louis. Hutchison pitched on regular rest. “I made some mistakes and they got hit like they should,” said Hutchison. “I left a change-up up. I hung a slider. Those are pitches theyre going to do damage with. Regardless of anything else, if I throw a hanging slider on two days rest or eight days rest, its going to get drilled.” At home in five starts, Hutchison is 1-3 with an 8.72 ERA, seven home runs allowed and 21 strikeouts to 13 unintentional walks. On the road in eight starts, hes 3-1 with a 2.03 ERA, three home runs allowed and 46 strikeouts to 10 walks. Hutchisons two finest outings of the season occurred away from Rogers Centre. He tossed a three-hit shutout in Texas, outpitching Yu Darvish in a 2-0 win on May 16. Then, on June 3 in Detroit, Hutchison went pitch-for-pitch with Anibal Sanchez. He got a no-deecision for his seven scoreless innings, but the Jays got the win when the offence opened up on the Tigers bullpen.dddddddddddd. The start in Texas was on normal rest. The start in Detroit was on seven days of rest. Yet Hutchisons take on the appearances versus the Tigers is different than the layman observers. “I didnt think I was lights out that start, either, until about the fourth or the fifth,” said Hutchison. “I didnt think I had very good tempo and I didnt think I was locked in.” Hutchison is a command pitcher, at his best when hes working the corners with his fastball and mixing in his slider and his changeup to keep hitters off balance. The modus operandi isnt exclusive to Hutchison, of course, but because he doesnt throw a high-90s fastball, hes less prone to get away with mistakes. If its not about fatigue and it isnt about health, could it be about a 23-year-old still learning the ropes? “I mean, sure, thats fair to say,” said Hutchison. “For me, I dont really look at things that way. Im more take the ball and I expect to give us a good outing every time I go out there, regardless of my age or regardless of what level Im at or anything like that.” Hutchison wants to be reliable and admitted hes angry that hasnt always been the case. Theres frustration at the inconsistency. “Thats been the biggest difference between the good starts Ive had and the bad starts - my rhythm and my tempo has been good in my good starts and it hasnt been in my bad starts, so I think thats something Im more focused on than anything else,” said Hutchison. RASMUS UPDATE Colby Rasmus, on the disabled list since May 13 with an injured right hamstring, has made enough progress that his rehab schedule is becoming better defined. Rasmus continues to perform baseball activities at the Blue Jays facility in Dunedin, Florida and may get into an extended spring training game early this week. The Triple-A Buffalo Bisons are scheduled to open up a four-game series in Toledo, Ohio, against the Mudhens on Thursday. Rasmus will join the Bisons there. Its not yet clear how many games he will play before being activated off the disabled list and rejoining the Blue Jays. ' ' '