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TORONTO -- The clock was ticking down and the Toronto Raptors were clutching a one-point lead. And Kyle Lowry, the player who has so often carried them down the stretch, was in the locker-room getting treatment for a sore and swollen knee. But with DeMar DeRozan leading the way, the Raptors showed the resiliency that has become part of their makeup this season en route to a 107-103 victory over the Houston Rockets on Wednesday. "Every win is great for us right now for what were trying to do, especially with Kyle out and Amir (Johnson) out," said Raptors coach Dwane Casey. "Hopefully it gives our guys some confidence. . . guys who stepped in, to go where we need to go." Johnson missed all but the first three minutes with an ankle injury. DeRozan poured in 29 points, and was key in the fourth quarter, doling out a couple of assists and uncharacteristically taking a charge. "Those are the winning plays that hes learning to make and hes making now, other than just scoring," Casey said. "Hes doing a great job of scoring but theres so many other things when he plays those kinds of minutes, especially now with Kyle out, hes got to do a lot more." When he somehow cut his finger with just over three minutes to go, he continued to play despite the blood that was smeared across his shorts. "I kind of split the middle of my hand, the webbing of my hand, I didnt even notice," said DeRozan, who estimated he had four or five stitches. "I looked down and my whole hand was soaked." Jonas Valanciunas and Greivis Vasquez added 15 points apiece, and Terrence Ross finished with 14 for the Raptors (43-32). James Harden scored 26 points to top the Rockets (49-25), who were missing Dwight Howard (ankle) for the third consecutive game. Chandler Parsons added 20. Lowry missed the game after a hard knee-on-knee collision with LeBron James in the Raptors 93-83 loss to Miami two nights earlier. His X-rays were negative, so there was no structural damage. Johnson played the first three minutes but headed to the locker-room with a sore right ankle. But despite the absence of not only two of the teams top contributors but arguably its two hardest workers, the Raptors werent going to let this game slip away. With seven games to go, every game is meaningful as the Raptors fight for a favourable opponent in the post-season and homecourt advantage. Vasquez, who started at point guard, said its no surprise that DeRozan and the Raptors stepped up so well in Lowrys absence. "Its not hidden that (DeRozan and Lowry) are our leaders. We go as they go. And everybody else understands that," said Vasquez. "This is why we have a healthy locker-room, were not fighting egos, we know whats going on. Those two guys are going to score, those two guys are going to make winning plays. And whenever one of those guys goes down, weve got their back. Thats what this team is all about. "This is not a fluke. We earn wins, and we earned a win tonight." Houston, which has now dropped seven straight decisions in Toronto, was coming off a 105-96 loss the previous night at Brooklyn, and arrived in Toronto at 3 a.m. Wednesday. The Raptors led by as much as 20 points in the third against the fourth-place team in the mighty Western Conference. But they allowed the Rockets to pull within 90-80 heading into the fourth and it was during a stretch in the final 12 minutes that the Raptors really felt the absence of Lowry and Johnson. The Rockets pulled within two points with 8:45 to play but that was as close as the visitors would get, and when a wide-open Ross drained a three-pointer with four minutes to play it brought the crowd to its feet and gave Toronto a six-point lead. There were some tense moments as Houston showed some life late. Jeremy Lin drained a three-pointer to cut Torontos lead to three points with nine seconds left, but a free throw by Vasquez sealed the Raptors victory. "We are a team that is desperate for a win right now," Lin said. "Weve dropped three in a row, definitely not a good feeling. We just have to regroup. The one thing I will say is that Im proud of how hard we played but we didnt play great in terms of execution, in terms of coverage and a lot of those little things." As for Lowrys knee injury, Casey said sitting his starting guard wasnt a matter of getting him rest. Wednesdays game was one the coach really wanted to win, so if Lowry could have played, he would have. "Theres a pride factor, you want to win, you want to win a division, you want to win and try and get home court," Casey said. "Were in position, so theres no use of letting off the pedal now. Every game for me is desperate. "But its not live or die or anything like that, were not going to risk a kids health to try to do that." Lowry is averaging 17.4 points, 7.6 assists and 4.8 rebounds. Johnson, whos averaging 10.8 points and 6.8 boards, has long battled bad ankles, but the hardworking forward normally plays through the pain. The fact he left the game is worrisome. The Raptors are tied with Chicago for third in the Eastern Conference and two-and-a-half games ahead of Brooklyn. The good news is Wednesdays game was the Raptors last against a Western Conference opponent. And of the remaining games, Toronto plays last-place Milwaukee twice, and Philadelphia (second-last) once. The Raptors got off to a sloppy start, falling behind by 12 points midway through the first quarter. Toronto ended the quarter with a 12-2 run capped by a three-pointer by Vasquez and trailed 25-23 heading into the second. DeRozan led the way with 15 points in a second quarter that Toronto finish with a 13-4 run, and when the Raptors all-star drilled a 32-footer at the buzzer it sent Toronto into the dressing room with a 55-50 lead. A pair of free throws by Salmons gave the Raptors a 20-point lead -- their biggest of the game -- with just under four minutes to go in the third. But the Rockets finished with an 18-8 run to make it a 10-point game with a quarter to go. NOTES: The Raptors have another tough game Friday when they host the Indiana Pacers. The Raptors are in Milwaukee on Saturday before returning home to face the Sixers and New York Knicks. . . Toronto FC midfielder Dwayne DeRosario was at the game. Steph Curry Shoes For Sale . PETERSBURG, Florida – Heading into Thursday nights action, Dioner Navarro had caught 14 innings combined from starters Drew Hutchison and Mark Buehrle. Wholesale Steph Curry Shoes . Kyrie Irving and the Cleveland Cavaliers were left fretting over an MRI on the stars left knee. Paul George scored 21 points, Roy Hibbert added 19 and the Pacers used a dominant fourth quarter to blow out the Cavaliers 91-76 on Tuesday The Pacers (25-5) have won eight in a row over Cleveland, their longest active streak against any opponent. https://www.stephencurryshoescheap.com/ . The Kings paraded the Stanley Cup through downtown Los Angeles on Monday to celebrate their second NHL title in three seasons. Steph Curry Shoes Outlet . Still, its a start. Josh Baileys goal with 1:40 left capped a furious third-period rally, and the Islanders edged the Penguins 4-3 on Friday night. Clearance Steph Curry Shoes . He was attracted by the punishing defence, the strong running game and a coaching staff he trusted. The 49ers announced Thursday that Manningham had signed a two-year deal to join the team he helped knock out in the NFC championship game two months ago in their latest offensive upgrade at wide receiver.Best goalie mask: There were some great masks from Nordiques goaltenders.Ron Hextall:(Image via Pro Hockey FR)Jocelyn Thibault:(Image via Tenders Lounge)Stephane Fiset:(Image via Goalies Archive)Best moustache: Michel Goulet(Image via Jsportsblogger)(Image via The Score)Best/Worst mullet: Chris Lindberg(Image via Mile High Hockey)Did you know? Montreal Canadiens anthem singer Ginette Reno had previously performed at a Nordiques game.Do they have a goal song? Why yes they do. Its incredibly campy.Did they have a mascot? Yes, its name was Badaboum.(Image via Flickr)Biggest fight: Ah, the provincial rivalry: Montreal vs Quebec. Things often got testy, for example this bench clearing brawl.Best trade:(Image via Melt Your Faceoff)In what arguably is one of the best trades in NHL history, the Nordiques traded the rights to Eric Lindros (who didnt want to play with the team) to the Philadelphia Flyers for the rights to Peter Forsberg, Ron Hextall, Chris Simon, Mike Ricci, Kerry Huffman, Steve Duchesne, a 1993 1st round selection (which turned out to be Jocelyn Thibault) a 1994 1st round pick (traded to Toronto) and $15 million dollars. The trade ultimately shaped the 1996 Stanley Cup winning Colorado Avalanche.Check out the TSN special on the deal.What would the Nordiques new logo look like if they hadnt moved? The team ran this new logo in the Canadian press they would have used had they not moved to Colorado(Images via Wikipedia)Last game: May 16, 1995. The Quebec Nordiques fell to the New York Rangers 4-2 in Game 6 of their first round series.Captain: Joe Sakic(Image via Denver Post)Whyd the move? The team faced serious financial problems, despite having a fairly stable fan base. With the weakened Canadian dollar, the team just couldnt compete against American teams. Eventually the team was sold to the same owners of Denver Nuggets, and the team became the Colorado Avalanche.What does a former player have to say?Goaltender Ron Tugnutt(Image via Goalies Archive)What was it like to be a member of the Nordiques?It was pretty cool acctually.dddddddddddd I loved the city and the culture. Theres a fortunate and an unfortunate; for me they were going through a youth movement change therefore I got to crack the lineup at a young age. At 20 I was playing in the NHL, which was nice. The downside was that we were going through that youth change and there was a lot of losing that was taking place. In general though, it was a great experience.What was it like to play in the Quebec market?It was great. I did pick up some French along the way, I took it in school, but once youre living their, you tend to improve. The old part of downtown was very French and ordering food and dinner was tough, but the culture was fantastic. It was a great place to start my career.What was the best part about playing there?I think playing my first NHL game would be the highlight, because everybodys dream is to play in the NHL, so it was cool to accomplish that. My biggest highlight was meeting a lot of good friends - they were all young guys – and getting to know each other and stuff. I think that would be a huge highlight for me in Quebec City. Its hard; I enjoyed my time there. I have no problem with being there at all.Do you think hockey could thrive in that market again?Yeah, with the cap world they might be able too. For small market teams, its always going to be hard to keep all of your players, like in Winnipeg and Ottawa, because its difficult because there is bigger money elsewhere.Was it tough being in the same market as Montreal?No not at all because that was the rivalry, to me those were some of the best games to play. We never knew what would happen on those nights. It was always a very physical match. I thought that was a great thing to be so close to Montreal and be in that same market. Believe me, there was almost as many Quebec Nordiques fans in la belle province, and it always made for great entertainment.Previous #TBTsAtlanta ThrashersHartford WhalersCalifornia Golden Seals Colorado Rockies(Stats and info via Hockeydb and Sports E-Cylcopedia) ' ' '