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NEW ORLEANS - Greivis Vasquez, now an integral member of the Raptors second unit, has celebrated wins over each of his three former teams in the last two weeks but Wednesdays victory over the Pelicans brought an even wider smile to the jovial point guards face. He played a big part in Fridays upset win over Memphis - the team that drafted him - a week after defeating the Kings, the team that traded him Toronto. However, this one meant a little more, though it took him a couple minutes to admit it. "I just want to win," Vasquez said, initially downplaying his return to New Orleans after the Raptors overcame an abysmal start to knock off the undermanned Pelicans 107-100. Sandwiched between his brief time in Memphis and Sacramento, Vasquez spent two seasons playing for the New Orleans franchise, formally known as the Hornets. There he enjoyed his best moments, individually, of his career. "This is a very special place for me because they gave me the key, they labelled me a starting point guard, they gave me a chance to showcase my game," said Vasquez, who finished second in most improved voting with the Hornets last season, averaging a career-highs in points (13.9) and assists (9.0) before he was traded to Sacramento this past summer. "I was really angry when they traded me," he admitted. "I know its part of the business so that makes it a little sour when you come back but you always want to beat your former team." With the game in the balance down the stretch, Vasquez looked and played like a scorned man. The Raptors backup point guard, like the rest of his new team, got off to an unexpectedly slow start against a Pelicans club missing its best player, all-star forward and Vasquezs former running mate Anthony Davis. When Vasquez entered the game late in the first quarter, Toronto was already down by seven. That deficit would balloon to 13 a few minutes later, as the Pelicans had their way with the shorthanded Raptors in the paint, getting what they want, when and however they wanted it. The Raptors spent most of the second half clawing back, unable to get over the final hurdle until Vasquez vaulted them over it. With two minutes remaining on the clock and the score knotted up at 94 - Toronto had led for a total of 51 seconds in the game at that point - the former Hornet put the Raptors on top with one of his patented floaters. After misfiring on a three from the corner - one he thought he had made - moments later, Vasquez followed his shot, grabbed the rebound - Torontos 22nd offensive board of the night, a season-best - and covered the lay-up, also getting fouled on the play. After completing the three-point sequence, the Raptors found themselves up by five in a game they badly needed, having dropped their last two. They would not relinquish that lead. "I was blessed enough to be out there at the end of the game," said Vasquez, who scored nine of his 14 points in the fourth quarter. "Ive been wishing I could get out there at the end of these games and (Coach) gave me an opportunity." "I had a rough first half and then the second half I was on a mission," he continued. "I like close games. Im not afraid. I will never be afraid. I am the type of player who would risk everything. Thats how I got the (starting job) here in New Orleans. They saw me playing in Memphis against San Antonio and OKC in my rookie year and they thought I was a starting guard." The Pelicans missed just three shots in the opening quarter, dropping 32 points on the winded Raptors - playing in the second game of a back-to-back, having lost Tuesday in Atlanta - without Davis, their leading scorer. Shooting over 75 per cent until the latter half of the second quarter, New Orleans torched the visitors on dribble drives in the paint. "I didnt recognize the team in the first quarter," Dwane Casey said. "I told them they were playing like they were in a rec league in the summer time (but) we picked it up." The game began to turn midway through that frame, as the Raptors closed the half on a 23-10 run, hitting nine of their final 10 shots. Despite shooting 36-per-cent in the second half, the Raptors clawed and scraped their way back into the game. DeMar DeRozan carried them offensively, scoring 16 of his game-high 31 points in the second half and the team out-rebounded New Orleans 31-18, including a 14-2 advantage on the offensive boards. Amir Johnson - playing on a sore ankle, again - grabbed eight of his nine rebounds in the second half, Tyler Hansbrough - starting in place of the injured Jonas Valanciunas - pulled down eight of his season-high 13. Simply put, they wanted it more. "This game was about mental toughness, physical toughness more so than skill," said Casey. "No matter who youre playing you have to bring that each and every night and I thought our guys did." Undermanned frontcourt The Raptors were without two of their top three bigs in Valanciunas, who missed his first game of the season with a lower back sprain and Patrick Patterson, still out with an elbow injury. Valanciunas sustained the injury turning to set a screen in the third quarter of Tuesdays loss to the Hawks and was unable to suit up in New Orleans. Although his back is still tight, the Raptors centre underwent treatment before the game and plans to do the same during Thursdays off day, hoping to return on Friday at home to the Thunder. De Colos quiet impact Without attempting a single shot in the first half, only taking one in the game, Nando De Colo helped ignite the Raptors and change the game with his energy, effort and decision making. Logging 14 minutes, the most hes played since he was acquired from San Antonio at the trade deadline, De Colo was credited with sparking his new teams second-quarter run that cut their deficit from 14 to one going into intermission. "Oh man, he was unbelievable," Kyle Lowry said of De Colo, who went scoreless but added two rebounds and three assists. "You cant forget a guy like that. Thats what I always say, were 15 strong. Nando hasnt played that much but tonight he really changed the game, just moving, speed, defence, just his overall effort and knowledge of the game." Nearing a milestone on the road With the victory, the Raptors picked up their 18th road win of the season, most since the 2001-02 campaign and are getting closer to the franchise record of 20 set the year prior. Toronto has seven road games to go and can finish at or above .500 away from home for the first time in team history if they can win at least three of them. Theyll face only one winning team on the road - the Heat - the rest of the way. Wednesdays visit to New Orleans also marked the Raptors final road game against Western Conference opponents, finishing the season 8-7 in those contests. John Randle Jersey . The bout served as the headlining matchup of Saturdays "UFC Fight Night: Brown vs. Silva" event, which took place at U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati. It was Silva who looked well on his way to victory in the early going, delivering a pair of crushing kicks to the body that sent Brown crashing to the floor, doubled over in pain. Alexander Mattison Jersey . Third-place Madrid fell behind and settled for a 2-2 draw earlier at Osasuna in a match both sides finished with 10 men, and Barcelona didnt let the chance escape. Barcelona, still without the injured Lionel Messi, again turned to Neymar after his hat trick against Celtic in the Champions League on Wednesday to convert a penalty on the half-hour mark and restore the lead in the 68th after Villarreal levelled. http://www.cheapvikingsjerseysauthentic.com/?tag=authentic-irv-smith-jr-jersey . Paul George and Darren Collison each scored 17 points and Roy Hibbert added 11 points and nine rebounds for the Pacers (9-3), who won their third straight. Alan Page Jersey . The San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders are giving it a try, too. Cheap Vikings Jerseys Authentic . After not scoring 40 points in the opening quarter in the last five seasons, the Rockets have done it five times this season and twice in the last three games.The Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals have been two of the NFLs hottest teams since enduring bumpy stretches. One will head into the playoffs on a winning note - with a home game awaiting them - after Sunday nights matchup in Pittsburgh, which serves as a de facto AFC North title game. You can watch the game live on TSN1, TSN3, TSN4 and TSN5 starting at 8:15pm et/5:15pm pt. These teams are tied for the leagues second-most wins since Week 8 with both going 7-2 in that span. Pittsburgh (10-5) started 3-3, blowing a fourth-quarter lead against Tampa Bay and suffering losses at Cleveland and Baltimore by a combined 41 points. The Steelers, however, clinched their first playoff appearance since 2011 with last Sundays 20-12 win over Kansas City. Theyre now a victory shy of their first four-game winning streak in a season since 2012. We knew we had the talent, and that it was just a case of us being consistent and putting it together, said LeVeon Bell, who is tied for the league lead with eight touchdowns from scrimmage since Week 11. It might not have looked like we were making progress, but we knew that if we kept doing what we were supposed to be doing, wed be all right. Cincinnati (10-4-1) followed a 3-0 start with an 0-2-1 stretch that included 26- and 27-point losses to New England and Indianapolis. The Bengals have since found their footing, clinching a fourth straight playoff berth with Mondays 37-28 win over Denver on Monday night. They also bucked the trend of poor prime-time performances after entering with a 2-6 record in night games since 2011, including two blowout losses earlier this year. Cincinnati can set a franchise record with a fifth straight road win. We answered a lot of questions, especially on this Monday night thing, defensive tackle Domata Peko told the teams official website. Everybody was talking about it. We kept it in-house and just got it done. Were just getting started. The Bengals would clinch a home playoff game with a win or a tie and are still in play for the AFCs No. 2 seed, though they would need the Broncos to lose to Oakland. Pittsburgh will be playing on wild-card weekend regardless of the result but can avoid traveling with a victory. The Steelers already have two more wins than they had in each of the past two seasons and are seven points shy of the single-season club record of 416 from 1979. They werent necessarily celebrating the end of their brief postseason drought, however. Were going to treat that like a playoff game like weve had the last three weeks, said Ben Roethlisberger, who is one TD shy of becoming the 18th quarterback to throw for 250. We stilll have work to do.dddddddddddd Pittsburgh has only trailed for five minutes since going ahead of Cincinnati with a 25-point, fourth-quarter outburst in a 42-21 road win Dec. 7. Bell recorded 235 yards from scrimmage and three TDs, while the Bengals were limited to 86 yards on 21 carries. The Steelers are limiting opponents to 99.3 rushing yards per game, sixth-best in the NFL. Cincinnati has bounced back with its first back-to-back, 200-plus yard rushing performances since 2003. Jeremy Hill and Giovani Bernard combined for 227 yards on 40 carries in a 30-0 win at Cleveland on Dec. 14, then Hill ran 22 times for 147 yards against the Broncos second-ranked run defense. He joined Eric Dickerson and Curtis Martin as the only rookies to run for 140-plus four times and ranks second among running backs this season with 5.2 yards per carry. The ground game has the Bengals confident that they can make a deeper playoff run after being one-and-done each of the last three seasons. They rank fifth in the NFL with 135.4 rushing yards per game after finishing no better than 18th in the last three years. We just have a new attitude, left tackle Andrew Whitworth said. The running game has really sparked kind of a feistiness, a will to make something happen for us. At times, we havent had that, for whatever reason. The ground game may need to be particularly good if the passing attack is off a bit after Andy Dalton missed practice time this week due to the flu. The illness also has caused tight end Jermaine Gresham to miss practice along with defensive backs Terence Newman and Reggie Nelson. The Bengals expect Dalton to be fully recovered by game day. Its always a big deal when you dont have your quarterback at practice, offensive coordinator Hue Jackson said. Again, its also not good if the guys sick and cant practice. Pittsburghs passing attack, second in the league at 300.5 yards per game, had its way in the first meeting as Roethlisberger was 25 of 39 for 350 yards and three TDs. The Bengals have since held two opponents to a combined 50.6 passer rating and picked off Peyton Manning four times. Cincinnatis A.J. Green, who caught 11 passes for a career-high 224 yards against the Steelers, is expected to play after suffering a bruised right biceps Monday. Green, who was held without a catch for the second time in his career, has averaged 98.7 receiving yards in three games at Pittsburgh. Antonio Brown is two catches shy of eclipsing Herman Moore and Wes Welkers shared mark (123) for the second-highest single-season total in league history. A Bengals win would mark the third consecutive season series split. 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