Woodson said. "We made shots. That has been

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. NEW YORK -- Carmelo Anthony had plenty of help against the struggling Philadelphia 76ers. Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 28 points as the New York Knicks had four players score 20 or more points and defeated Philadelphia 123-110 on Monday night, sending the 76ers to their 17th straight loss. Amare Stoudemire added 23 points to tie a season high, and Anthony and J.R. Smith each scored 22 as the Knicks won their fourth game in a row and fell just short of their season-high points total. "I love nights like this," Anthony said. "Four guys with 20-plus points. Sharing the ball. Making plays. Having fun out there. Taking the load off me. I love nights like that." Hardaway did most of his scoring in the fourth quarter, opening the period with a 3-pointer and making five of his eight shots, including three 3-pointers as the Knicks six-point lead entering the final quarter grew to as many as 21. Overall, he scored 13 in the final 12 minutes. "I was just trying to get myself open," Hardaway said. "I just came in today and I just started hitting my shots. Everyone was moving the ball and taking open shots. Stat got us going. J.R. was getting going and then Pablo (Prigioni) and everybody started finding me, so I just wanted to get myself going." Stoudemire started his fifth straight game for the Knicks. He had come off the bench in all but one other game this season. "It feels great, Stoudemire said. "I have been working extremely hard to get back to my normal self. My confidence is there. It never left." Michael Carter-Williams recorded a triple-double with 23 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists for Philadelphia, mired in its longest skid since the 1972-73 season. "I am trying not to think about it," Carter-Williams said. "We lose and we have to move on to the next one. People are writing about it and thats fine, but we are going to stay focused as a team." Philadelphia did get off to a good start, taking a 29-17 lead on James Andersons 3-pointer with 2:45 left in the first quarter. Smith scored 12 of his points in the opening quarter. "We were just trying to chip away at it,&quoot; Smith said.dddddddddddd. "Weve been in that situation numerous times this year, so we just tried to chip away at it and not hit any home-run plays." The Knicks did pull to within five at the end of the quarter and were even at 61 at halftime. The 76ers took a 67-66 lead following two free throws by Jarvis Varnado with 10:22 left in the third quarter, but the Knicks scored the next eight points to take a 74-67 lead. The lead was short-lived, however, as Philadelphia countered with its own 8-0 run to reclaim a one-point lead. After Thaddeus Youngs short jumper gave Philadelphia a 79-78 lead, the Knicks went on a 9-0 run with Anthony scoring the final five points to give the Knicks the lead for good. "We finally got solid defensively in the third quarter and, in the fourth, we brought it home," Knicks coach Mike Woodson said. "We made shots. That has been a key to our four-game winning streak." New York held a 91-85 lead after three quarters and went on to take its biggest lead of the game, 110-89, on the fourth of Hardaways five 3-pointers with 7:37 left. The Knicks never led by less than 12 the rest of the way. Raymond Felton added 13 points for the Knicks. Tony Wroten also scored 23 points for Philadelphia. Young finished with 18 and Anderson had 17 for the 76ers. "Tim Hardaway is a good player. Carmelo is Carmelo," 76ers coach Brett Brown said. "You look around the gym and you have to pick your poison. They really have a lot of offensive firepower." NOTES: The Knicks highest points total of the season came in a 125-96 win over Charlotte on Jan. 24. ... The last time the Knicks had four 20-point scorers in a game was against the Celtics on April 12, 2012 (Anthony 35, Steve Novak 25, Smith 25, Tyson Chandler 20). ... Chandler was not with the Knicks due to "personal reasons." ... The Knicks have purchased a NBA D-League team which will play its home games in White Plains, N.Y., beginning next season. The teams nickname has not yet been decided. ... Shannon Brown and Earl Clark were both signed to second 10-day contracts by the Knicks on Monday. Cheap Jerseys Store China Jerseys White NFL Jerseys Cheap Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping Youth NFL Jerseys Cheap Wholesale Stitched Jerseys China NFL Gear ' ' '