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TORONTO -- After a wobbly playoff debut, Raptors star DeMar DeRozan returned to attack mode for Game 2 against the Brooklyn Nets. Walter Brown Celtics Jersey . 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. Marcus Smart Jersey .Patterson marked his anniversary by proving his worth — once again.Lou Williams poured in 26 points, and Patterson drained two huge three-pointers late in the fourth quarter, as the Raptors topped the Denver Nuggets 112-107 in overtime Monday. Robert Parish Jersey .C. - Brent Sutter scored 1:32 into extra time as the Charlotte Checkers came from behind to defeat the visiting Abbotsford Heat 5-4 on Sunday in American Hockey League action. http://www.authenticcelticsproshop.com/Larry-Bird-Jersey/ .C. -- North Carolina State coach Mark Gottfried said his team had a "golden" opportunity to help its NCAA tournament chances.As their principal league rival came to terms with their seven-year MLS itch by splashing their loadsamoney cash and monopolizing the headlines, that likely even NYC FC owner Sheik Mansour has been paying attention to, the Montreal Impact have gone about their off season with a minimum of fuss. Last fall as local media awaited news on if Schällibaum would return, finally on December 18th a plume of Stade Saputo white smoke arrived in the form of a solitary press release stating the Impact were placing their 2014 Trust in Frank. That very same evening at a swanky downtown hotel, the Impact hosted 500 of their favourite supporters at their inaugural Members Council. Introduced to the faithful, Klopas was sat at the head table sharing a stage with the IMFC podium - Joey Saputo, Nick de Santis and Richard Legendre. Klopas slipped out of town the following day - only though after some Christmas shopping with his wife; a tradition for the couple which dates back to the ex-Fire coachs playing days. The Impacts third head coach would remain in Chicago until a week into the New Year. Upon officially taking up the reigns as head coach and director of player personnel the first point of business for Klopas was the following weekends combine. The opening of training camp was a fortnight away. As the days ebbed away speculation mounted on what the club would do to plug significant roster gaps. Most prominently this came in the shape of a retired Nesta plus the Impact were in need of replacing their captain who had been acquired in December by Barrack Obamas local club. Then throw in the Impacts need to sign a free scoring supporting cast member for Di Vaio, a player they cant expect to repeat his MVP type season. But the only news for local media to sink their teeth into at this time came from city hall as the Mayor proclaimed he would attend March the 22nd home opener. Then just as the Toronto FC plush red carpet was about to extend itself from Drakes downtown condo to a certain part of North London, training camp a mere 10 days away, the Impact were finally able to announce a player signing. Not a marquee signing most hoped for, instead it was the re-upping of the first player to pen an Impact MLS deal, Nelson Rivas. Having missed last terms entire regular season, the Columbian has the perfect motivation to return the faith shown in him by the club. Aside from calling up three Academy Players plus including four Super Draft picks, Rivas was the only senior player added to the squad of 21 Klopas inherited for when camp opened January 27th. A 28-player squad that was still without Adrian Lopez who was still home in Spain continuing the rehab of a late summer shattered ACL. The FA Cup winner is not expected in Montreal before Easter. It would be a full fortnight into camp before another playing signing was announced when just on Mondday the Impact confirmed Andrés Romero would return on loan from his Brazilian side. Kevin Mchale Celtics Jersey. . Romero had certainly impressed in early 2013 but as the season wore on the 24-year-old Argentine became the brunt for much supporter frustration. His form taking the most significant of dips, one we now know is strongly attributed to his wife having to return home to Argentina in preparation for the addition of welcoming twins to the Romero household. The Impacts wait for a new player signing finally ended this morning when announcing the signature of 21-year-old centre forward, Santiago Gonzalez. The Uruguayan, a so termed ‘Discovery Signing becomes the fifth South American footballer to join the club. And with it, there goes the neighbourhood and the myth the Impact only sign over-aged Italians. A few hours later Toronto introduced Inter Milans Champions League winning goalkeeper and Harry Redknapp castaway, Julio Cesar on a season-long loan. The man Felipe Scolari will pin his goalkeeping faith on during this summers World Cup is expected to man the posts for a team that leaked goals in 2013 until returning home for his nations tilt at securing a sixth world crown. Toronto FCs shiny looking new squad currently comes resplendent with more DPs on their roster than even the LA Galaxy are permitted. Dont, though, expect the Impact to up its DP quota anytime soon. Following yesterdays final training session ahead of the clubs departure late this afternoon to Orlando in defence of its Disney World Pro Soccer Classic title, De Santis poured extremely cold water on speculation linking the Impact to Valencias Pablo Piatti and SS Lazios Stefano Mauri. Having added a summer signing DP in each of its two MLS seasons to date, dont be surprised if the Impact continue that trend following this summers World Cup Finals. The Impact are set to get their pre-season and their Disney defence underway February 19th when they take on Fluminense FCs Under-23 team. Rounding out the Impacts group is two significant pre-season matches against the very best in all of MLS last season. A Supporter Shield wielding New York Red Bulls and an MLS Cup Champion, Sporting KC. With Toronto FC paired in a much weaker group which contains Orlando City SC, Columbus and Philadelphia, anything less than an appearance in March 1sts Disney final will likely be deemed as failure. With the Impact starting their 2014 season down in Dallas the night of March 8th, how appetizing is the prospect of a Disney final return and testing themselves against their neighbours, the club which has made most noise this off-season. You can reach and follow Noel Butler at:Noel.Butler@BellMedia.ca@TheSoccerNoel Beginning with March 8ths game in Dallas, you can listen to all 34 Impact regular season games home and away this season on TSN690 – online at www.TSN690.ca ' ' '