n they host the Celtics Friday

(SportsNetwork. Cheap Jerseys .com) - The Toronto Raptors will look to clinch a playoff spot for the first time since 2008 when they host the Boston Celtics tonight at the Air Canada Centre in the back end of a home and home. After picking up a rare win in Boston, the Toronto Raptors will be back on familiar ground when they host the Celtics Friday from Air Canada Centre. Terrence Ross led the Raptors with 24 points in a 99-90 triumph, while Kyle Lowry continued his recent tear with 23 and nine rebounds. DeMar DeRozan rounded out the 20-point scorers with exactly that many and Jonas Valanciunas ended with 15 points and 14 rebounds for Toronto, which has alternated results in the last six games. The Raptors broke an 11-game losing streak in Boston, last winning there on Jan. 23, 2008. "That was a character test for us," said Toronto head coach Dwane Casey. "I think this team has a lot of character. Situations were not there yet, but again its not from a lack of fight and togetherness." Casey needs three wins to reach 100 victories with the team. The Raptors last posted 40 total wins in a season in 2009-10 (40-42) and the fastest team to reach 40 wins was the 1999-00 squad after 70 games. The current unit needed 71 games to reach the mark. Lowry has scored 19 or more points in each of the last 11 games, averaging 22.5 points in that span. DeRozan is averaging more than 20 points per game against Atlantic Division foes. Toronto leads the division by 2 1/2 games ahead of Brooklyn and is even with Chicago for the third spot in the Eastern Conference. Toronto is 21-14 north of the border this season. Boston has lost two in a row and nine of its last 12 games, and was paced by Jared Sullingers 26 points (19 in fourth quarter) and eight rebounds on Wednesday. "Sully (Sullinger) got hot and I thought even though we were really undersized we played pretty well in that time," said Boston head coach Brad Stevens. Avery Bradley had 16 points, Rajon Rondo chipped in nine and 15 assists and Chris Johnson added 13 points off the bench. The Celtics shot 41 percent from the floor and had a 51-7 advantage from their reserves. The Celtics will try to stop an eight-game road losing streak in Toronto and have an 8-26 mark as the visitor. Their previous road win was Feb. 10 against the Milwaukee Bucks. Celtics forward Jeff Green had six points in 20 minutes on Wednesday and is bothered by a stiff neck. Green hopes to play against the Raptors. Rondo needed stitches to close a cut on his forehead and returned to the game to cover Raptors All-Star DeRozan. "I think it obviously says a lot. He wants to play and not only, I think the most important part about it is he came back in and guarded DeRozan (DeMar)," Celtics coach Brad Stevens said of Rondo. "He went after it and I thought he did a pretty good job on him." Toronto is 2-1 against the Celtics this season, but the latter has prevailed in four of the last seven meetings between the teams. Boston has lost two straight, four of five and five of its last seven trips to Canada. wholesale jerseys . -- The Detroit Tigers agreed to terms Monday with seven players on contracts for the 2014 season. Cheap Jerseys from china . PETERSBURG, Russia -- Robert Lewandowski scored twice as Borussia Dortmund took a big step toward the Champions League quarterfinals with a 4-2 victory at Zenit St.CHICAGO -- The Chicago Cubs celebrated the 100th anniversary of the first game at Wrigley Field in the most appropriate way: with a gut-wrenching loss. They entered the ninth inning with a three-run lead. They were one out from victory. And then they collapsed. After an error by shortstop Starlin Castro, the Arizona Diamondbacks rallied for five runs in the ninth to beat the Cubs 7-5 Wednesday. "That one finished not like we would have wanted, obviously," Cubs manager Rick Renteria said. "It seemed like the inning kept opening up, and we werent able to end up in the end putting a stop to it." Martin Prado hit a two-run single off Pedro Strop (0-2), Miguel Montero had a tying single against James Russell and Aaron Hill followed with a two-run triple off Justin Grimm. The beloved ballpark, the second-oldest in the major leagues behind 102-year-old Fenway Park in Boston, opened on April 23, 1914, when the Federal Leagues Chicago Federals beat the Kansas City Packers 9-1. Fans sang "Happy Birthday" in the middle of the fifth inning Wednesday. The Cubs wore Federals uniforms, and the Diamondbacks wore Kansas City Packers threads. The Cubs moved into the Friendly Confines in 1916, after the Federal League folded, and have established a tradition of beloved losers. The Cubs only World Series titles came in 1907 and 08, when they played at the West Side Grounds, and they havent even reached the World Series since 1945. Still, the Cubs are 4,076-3,621 (.530) during the regular season at Wrigley, according to STATS, and 7-20 in the post-season. Chicago failed in its bid to win three straight games for the first time since last July 26-28. "Big day out there. You want to show up, have a good turnout for the fans and former players in the crowd," Cubs starter Jeff Samardzija said. Before a crowd of 32,323 -- about 9,000 under capacity -- the Cubs led 5-2 in the ninth. Strop walked Chris Owings on four pitches and Castro allowed Tony Campanas grounder to kick off his glove for an error. Castro tried to keep his left leg on second as he retrieved the ball, and second base umpire Brian ONora called the sliding Owings safe -- a decision confirmed by the replay umpire in New York. Pinch-hitter Eric Chavez walked on a full count, loading the bases, and Gerardo Parra struck out. Prados bouncer up the middle bounded off second base, eluding second baseman Darwin Barney and kicking into short right-centre field as thee Diamondbacks closed to 5-4. wholesale nfl jerseys. Strop struck out Paul Goldschmidt for the second out. Montero fouled off a 2-2 pitch, took a ball, and then lined a tying single to right. Hill blooped a ball down the right-field line and Justin Ruggiano injured his left hamstring as he tried for a sliding catch near the foul line and the bullpen mound. He needed assistance to leave the field and was replaced by Ryan Kalish. Samardzija allowed two runs and seven hits in 7 1-3 innings and is winless in 11 starts since beating San Diego on Aug. 24. He was supported by Ruggianos two-run homer in the sixth and a three-run fifth. Trevor Cahill (1-4) pitched two scoreless innings for Arizona, which ended a four-game losing streak, and Addison Reed got his fourth save as the Cubs went quietly in a 1-2-3 ninth. That gave the Diamondbacks gome good news on a day when they learned outfielder Mark Trumbo will be out an undetermined amount of time with a stress fracture in his left foot. Trumbo has felt plantar fasciitis since spring training. "The plantar (fasciitis) at times has been pretty bad but manageable," Trumbo said. "Thats what you have to do. Youve got to earn a living and play. This was to the point where I severely had to compensate running-wise to the point where I probably wouldnt be much of an asset on either side." Arizona starter Wade Miley gave up five runs -- three earned -- and four hits in five innings. "I think were going to continue to be the Kansas City Packers," Miley said. "Were the Packers now." Even dressed as another team, the Cubs were still the Cubs. NOTES: Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig said "it would be great, no question about it" if the Cubs were competitive. He also said replay review has "done great" and added that hes not reconsidering his decision to retire after the season. He also confirmed that baseball is working on an interpretation of the transfer rule. ... Ryan Dempster, who was at Wrigley Field for the 100th anniversary festivities, said joining MLB Network as an analyst is the best thing for him to do right now. Dempster didnt rule out returning to the field. ... Results of Ruggianos MRI will be known Thursday. ... Cubs RHP Jake Arrieta is to make his fifth -- and what the team hopes is final -- minor league injury rehabilitation start Saturday for Double-A Tennessee. ... Arizona OF A.J. Pollock (neck stiffness) didnt start but pinch ran in the ninth. ' ' '