Marktplatz » Ama Agbeze as the build-up begins at 3.30pm on Sky Sports

TORONTO - Sunday afternoons track meet with the fleet-footed Suns left the Raptors in a daze, but one player was feeling it more than the others. With just over 90 seconds remaining, down by nine in a game Toronto would go on to lose 121-113, Kyle Lowry - the Raptors most irreplaceable player - clutched his head, as he remained sprawled out on the court across from the teams bench. Scrambling for a loose ball moments earlier, Lowry took two inadvertent knees to the head from Suns 235-pound forward P.J. Tucker. Assisted by his teammates and the medical staff, the Raptors point guard walked gingerly to the bench where he was examined briefly during the timeout but would ultimately stay in the game. "Hes fine," Dwane Casey said after the game, but Lowrys assessment was a little less comforting. "I got kneed in the head, bad," he told reporters. "Ive got a headache right now. These (television) lights are killing me right now. But Im alright, though." Has he suffered a concussion before? Was he concerned that he may have suffered one that afternoon? Lowry balked at those questions. "No, Im tough," he said with a laugh, as if that could shield him from possible head injury. For those familiar with Lowry, one thing was for certain. He was not coming out of that game voluntarily. Sure enough, he shook it off and played the final 1:36, badly missing his next shot, a three coming out of the timeout. After a slow start, Lowry scored all but two of his team-high 28 points during the Raptors second half push. Ultimately he and his club could not overcome Phoenixs dynamic backcourt and devastating team speed. "Their speed and quickness was the biggest factor," Casey said after his team surrendered 121 points, most since they lost a Jan. 25 shootout to the Clippers. "Speed does that," he continued. "Speed kills. Thats the whole bottom line. We wont see a faster team than that the rest of the year. It caused a lot of breakdowns." With the tandem of Goran Dragic and Eric Bledsoe setting the tone for Phoenix, the Raptors were forced out of their comfort zone, playing at a tempo that suited the Suns high-octane attack. "Thats their type of game," Lowry admitted. "We dont want to have no type of game like that. We want to hold teams under 100, under 90, preferably." The Raptors, who had not lost a game by more than five points in over a month, were holding their previous nine opponents at home to 91.3 in regulation. For the first time over that stretch, they seemed to let their own frustration get the better of them. Usually a calm, cool and collected bunch, the Raptors got caught up arguing with the officials during a third quarter in which the Suns shot 23 free throws, including 10 from Bledsoe alone. The afternoon mercifully came to an end with reserve forward Steve Novak confronting a teammate on Torontos bench as Jonas Valanciunas played peacemaker and held him back. Novak would not say he was shouting at, or why and insisted, its a non-issue. Despite a bit of understandable post-game tension in the teams locker room, there was an underlying feeling of calmness, stemming from their unflappable head coach. "Its not a systemic problem," Casey insisted. "Its not a situation where (we should) panic. Its one game. We knew we werent going to go undefeated the rest of the way. That team right there, theyre fighting for their playoff lives like we are." Of course, that wasnt the case back in December when Toronto last visited the Suns. In the midst of a Western road trip, the Raptors dropped their fifth straight and fell six games below the .500 mark for the only time this season. It was an undeniable low point for the squad before their fortunes turned two days later, as Rudy Gay was traded. Even after Sundays loss, they are 31-16 since that game in Phoenix. In a couple losses to the Suns - the Western Conferences feel-good story - this season, the Raptors have been out-rebounded by 36, grabbing a season-low 26 on Sunday, allowing a total of 227 points. Missing Patterson Without Patrick Patterson, missing his fourth straight game with an elbow ligament sprain, the Raptors undermanned second unit was thoroughly outplayed Sunday. The Suns finished with a 59-11 advantage in bench scoring, led by the 28 points of Gerald Green - a starter until Bledsoe returned from injury - and the Morris twins, who Patterson likely would have guarded. "Once Patrick gets back we have offence coming off the bench, which is huge, everybody kind of gets back in their place," said Casey, who wasnt concerned about long-term ramifications of the benchs underwhelming performance. "Again, no time to panic. Weve showed that weve played against quality teams without Pat. Weve got to continue to do that." Patterson will be re-evaluated Monday and the team hopes to have him back in the lineup sometime this coming week. Johnson climbs franchise block list With his swat on Tucker midway through the first quarter, Amir Johnson passed Antonio Davis for third on the Raptors all-time block list. Johnson, who leads Toronto with 73 blocked shots this season, has recorded 406 since being acquired by the Raptors ahead of the 2009-10 campaign. He is now 9 blocks away from tying Vince Carter for second-most in franchise history. Chris Bosh is the Raptors all-time leader with 600. The Stat DeMar DeRozan, who scored 17, has been held under 20 points in consecutive games for the first time since Dec. 20-23. The Raptors all-star guard tallied 16 points on Friday in a challenging matchup against the Grizzlies Tayshaun Prince and Tony Allen before facing Tucker and the Suns Sunday. The Quote "Its just tough when you go out there playing hard and sometimes we dont get a call that were fighting or dying for, that we may need at a critical time," said DeRozan, who was whistled for a technical, along with Casey, after voicing his disapproval of a no-call on a drive to the basket in the third quarter. "Its definitely tough but its something we can learn from." Alex Claudio Jersey . Vonn had another scary moment at Saturdays World Cup downhill in Val dIsere, ending up clutching her knee in pain after losing her balance and missing a gate. But she gave a reassuring answer shortly afterward, saying no new damage had been done to the surgically repaired knee, and that her plans for the Sochi Olympics were still intact. Ray Black Brewers Jersey . -- Augusta James of Bath, Ont. https://www.cheapbrewers.com/ . Ramirez is still hitting behind Puig, only now they are in the third and fourth spots, and the change is starting to generate positive results for manager Don Mattingly. Junior Guerra Brewers Jersey .com) - The Tennessee Titans agreed to terms with running back Jackie Battle on a one-year contract Friday. Trent Grisham Jersey . Ontario Superior Court Case Management Master Ronald Dash released the decision on Monday, saying John McCaw Jr. must testify in front of a jury by live video conference. Moores lawyer, Tim Danson, asked the court to compel McCaw - who is based in Seattle - to testify in the case back on February 27.Dallas, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - Chandler Parsons scored 29 points on 10-of-15 shooting and the Dallas Mavericks fended off the Boston Celtics, 118-113, on Monday. Dirk Nowitzki netted 27 points with seven rebounds while Monta Ellis added 14 points for the Mavs, who raced out to a big lead but sweated out their third straight victory. Jeff Green and Avery Bradley fueled the Celtics comeback, totaling 35 and 32 points, respectively. Bradley had a chance to tie things at the free throw line with 39.5 seconds to go but only made two of his three attempts. Ellis, after fouling Bradley behind the arc, ended Bostons 9-0 run with a tough runner off the glass to give Dallas a 116-113 lead. Parsons won a jump ball against Jared Sullinger to give Dallas the ball back, and Ellis made two free throws with 8.5 ticks remaining to seal the outcome. Boston started slow for the second time in three days and trailed by as many as 31 points in the second quarter. Dallas shot 63.4 percent from the floor and 10-of-14 from the 3-point line in the first half. The Celtics turned things around after halftime as they opened the third quarter on a 9-0 run and wound up outscoring the Mavs, 38-24, in the frame. Boston made a similar run against the Rockets on Saturday after trailing by 22 in the first half, but Houston pulled away for an easy win. Dallas had a much tougher time putting the Celtics away. They are scrappy and you know that they are going to continue to fight back, Mavs center Tyson Chandler said of the Celtics. The lead dipped to 91-79 heading to the fourth, and Boston was within three, 107-104, after rookie Marcus Smart madee a 3-pointer with 3:37 remaining.dddddddddddd In less than a minute, the Mavs extended the lead back to double digits, with Nowitzki hitting a patented turnaround, Parsons connecting on a corner 3 and Ellis feeding Parsons for a layup in transition. Boston answered with nine straight points to make things interesting. The Mavs poured in 40 points in the first quarter with 14 coming from Parsons, who shot 5-for-5 from the field and made both of his 3-point tries. Nine turnovers by the Celtics led to 19 points the other way, and Dallas 40-19 cushion only got wider in the second. Jameer Nelsons 3-pointer with just over four minutes left in the half pushed the margin to 63-32, and it was a 26-point game, 67-41, at the break. Its easy to play when youre down 26. Its hard to play when youre up 26, Celtics head coach Brad Stevens said of the difference between the first and second half. I dont want to make it like its the comeback of all comebacks...but our guys did make some plays in the second half. Game Notes Mavs forward Al-Farouq Aminu exited in the second quarter with a left knee injury ... Dallas has been outscored in the third quarter by an average of 11.8 points over its first four games ... Chandler finished with 10 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks for the Mavs ... Rajon Rondo dished out a game- high 15 assists for Boston, which committed eight turnovers over the final three quarters ... Boston shot 11-of-31 from the perimeter after going missing 24-of-25 3-point tries against the Rockets ... Dallas is 9-2 in the last 11 meetings. ' ' '