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TORONTO - Kyle Lowry laid flat in the centre of the key, hands on his head as he stared straight up at the top of the Air Canada Centre, likely seeing nothing at all, having just missed the biggest shot of his eight-year career. Although, technically it was not a shot. With their season on the line, the ball was in Lowrys hands, deservedly so. The clock showed 6.2 seconds as the Raptors inbounded, trailing by only one in the dying moments of a deciding Game 7. Jason Kidd and his Nets team had little doubt the ball would find Lowry. The star point guard caught the pass, with Deron Williams draped all over him, and went straight toward the rim as Kevin Garnett came over to trap. Lowry split the two defenders and floated a shot up at the basket just as Paul Pierce entered the fray in time to block it. As the buzzer sounded, putting an end to Torontos magical season, Lowry - the teams heart and soul - fell to the court. What was going through his head? "Whats not?" he shot back. DeMar DeRozan was the first one to come over. Crouching over the sprawled out Lowry, DeRozan offered up some words of encouragement. "He said, If anyone is taking that shot, Im living and dying with you taking it and trying to get that shot off," Lowry recounted after the Raptors heartbreaking 104-103 Game 7 loss. "It was one of those things, a brotherly moment." DeRozan helped the point guard up and the Raptors two best players walked off the court - Lowry with his jersey over his face - to a rousing ovation from their appreciative fans. "It was big time," Amir Johnson said of the scene. "Just them showing their appreciation, how well we did this season and how hard we worked. So it was a sad moment but bittersweet, I guess." The Raptors couldnt hide their disappointment after falling just short of advancing to the Conference Semifinals Sunday afternoon, it was written all over their faces, but they have no reason to hang their heads. The sellout ACC crowd stood and chanted in salute of their team, the game - however frustrating - served as a good reminder of why. With five minutes left, the Raptors appeared dead in the water. Frustrated and coming undone in the moment, down 10, their season was on life support but, like hes done so many times before, Dr. Lowry refused to let them die. Lowry scored 13 of his game-high 28 points in the final quarter and the Raptors came storming back. That resiliency has been their most admirable quality all year. They had led the NBA in fourth-quarter scoring differential, earning 11 comeback wins, eight more than the season prior. "Were going to fight until our last breath," said DeRozan after scoring 18 points, playing with the flu, as Casey revealed following the game. "Were going to leave it out there, every single thing we have there on the court." "We battled," added Johnson, who recorded his first playoff double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out early in the fourth quarter. "I would go to war with these guys any day and they showed a lot of pride and a lot of heart tonight. We just ran out of time." Lowry and his unwavering resolve have a lot to do with the teams late-game tenacity and so, with their season in the balance, they had no qualms with letting him decide their fate. "That young man did everything he could to get to the basket," Casey said of Lowry on the final possession. It was what they had drew up, Lowry going to the rim, though it was a slight variation of what was intended, with poor spacing that ultimately led to the blocked shot. "He tried to will his way to get that extra point." One point separated the teams Sunday and after 11 meetings - in the regular season and playoffs - Toronto and Brooklyn each scored 1,070 points. The series was as close as they come. "We were right there," Casey pointed out, and if a few calls from another highly critiqued officiating crew went their way they may have pulled it out. But in the end, the Nets were the better team Sunday and that was the case, more often than not, throughout the series. Joe Johnson - the best player on either side over the seven-game span - proved un-guardable again, scoring half of his 26 points in the fourth quarter, while the Raptors youth and inexperience continued to rear its head. Although Terrence Ross turned in his best game of the series, securing the steal that made Torontos final possession possible, the bar had been set low. Fellow sophomore Jonas Valanciunas scored just three points to go along with five rebounds in one of the quietest outings of his brief career. As a team, the Raptors wanted to go further, they believed they were ready and came just one play short of proving it. Even after the loss, with their season now over, the progress theyve made does not go to waste. Three of their starters had never appeared in a playoff game. Only four players on their roster had ever experienced a Game 7, no one has emerged victorious from one. This experience is invaluable and can only serve them well, both individually and as a collective, going forward. "Im proud of our guys," Casey said. "Nobody gave them a snowballs chance in you know where to be here. They competed all year. This group has a lot of stuff in front of them, a lot of basketball in front of them. The organization is in a great spot." "This playoff run is nothing but positive for these young men and anyone that thinks any different doesnt know basketball." Scarpe Nike Online Prezzi Bassi . Nix is a career .218 hitter in 425 games over six seasons. The 31-year-old right-handed hitter batted .270 with a homer this spring for Tampa Bay. Scarpe Nike Scontate Online . Justine finished first with a score of 22.44 while Chloe was second with 21.66 points. Defending champion Hannah Kearney of the U.S., was third at 21.49. A third Dufour-Lapointe sister, Maxime, failed to make the final group and finished 12th while Audrey Robichaud of Quebec City was 10th. http://www.nikescarpescontate.it/.C. -- The shot that would have beaten No. Vendita Scarpe Nike Online .com) - Pavel Datsyuk and Gustav Nyquist both scored in the shootout as the Detroit Red Wings denied the Minnesota Wilds comeback bid with a 5-4 win on Tuesday. Nike Scarpe Italia Outlet . Webb birdied the 18th hole to take the outright lead, then watched as Choi, who shot a course-record 62 on Saturday to take a share of the third-round lead, pushed a 10-foot putt wide of the hole at 18 to miss the chance for a playoff.Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry wants to answer your emails at cmonref@tsn.ca. Hey Kerry, Undoubtedly you will receive a lot of emails regarding this game. I have a question regarding the position of the linesman on the missed offside call that led to the Avs tying the game late in the third period against the Wild on Friday. Why is the linesman positioned outside the blue line? Shouldnt he be inside the line so that his body or skates arent inadvertently the cause of an offside for the attacking team? If he were in position inside the line, he surely wouldnt have to lean away from the line as he does in the photograph all over the media. I would like to know your thoughts. Thanks. DJ Waldron DJ, I want to establish first and foremost that Pierre Racicot is universally accepted as one of the top linesman in the NHL. Racicots high level of skill and competency has been recognized with seven consecutive selections to work the Stanley Cup Final. I worked many games with Pierre and can tell you firsthand that he has earned much deserved respect from players and coaches throughout the League. No matter how good a player or official is, mistakes are sometimes made. The great officials minimize their mistakes and Racicot clearly falls into that category. This is one of the very few times that this linesman got the call wrong. Let me explain why that happened. As you point out DJ, linesman Racicots initial decision to set up outside the blue line created an obstructed view of the inside edge of the line once Nathan MacKinnon carried the puck a mere couple of feet in front of the linesman. From this less than perfect position, and with Paul Stastny in full stride and about to cross the line to the right of MacKinnon, Racicot made the quick, but unfortunate, decision to alter his upper body posture away from the line. This move, made in a millisecond of time, was initiated by the linesman in an effort to gain an angle that might allow him to see both the puck and Stastny crossing the inside edge of the blue line. What this new angle created for the linesman, however, was a sightline toward the middle of the ice that became obstructed by the body of MacKinnon. Offside resulted in the blink of an eye as Stastnys lead skate (and with his back skate in the air not in contact with the line or outside the attacking zone) crossed inches ahead of the puck and resultedd in a rare missed call by Racicot.dddddddddddd I had the opportunity to work with some incredibly talented linesmen during the course of my career; Pierre Racicot included. As I was writing this column I spoke with HHOF member and former colleague Ray Scapinello to provide us with some technical insight on a play of this nature. Scamp said that he learned from fellow Hall-of-Fame members John DAmico and Matt Pavelich that, as a rule of thumb, it was imperative for the linesman to be set inside the blue line prior to players and the puck crossing the line. Im sure it might have happened through unavoidable circumstance but I cant ever remember Scapinello making a decision on an off-side from the neutral zone. On the contrary, I have vivid memories of Scamp positioned inside the zone, down on one knee and looking along the inside edge of the blue line to render his accurate decision on a close call. Once the play was deemed on-side, the little fellow jumped up and quickly moved his skates outside the blue line to avoid being hit with the puck and preventing it from exiting the zone. Ray stressed the importance of the linesmen seeing the attack develop, moving quickly to set up inside the blue line and waiting to make the call as the puck and players cross the line. Scamp said this, especially with the red line no longer in play for the off-side pass rule and the linesmen must be dialed in for potential stretch passes. When set up inside the blue line, Ray said it didnt matter if all five attacking players crossed the line at the same time because his view would not be obstructed. The rare missed offside call by Racicot was an anomaly for this highly skilled professional linesman. He will learn from this experience and gain an unobstructed sightline from a position inside the blue line whenever possible. If, in the future, there is a need to alter his upper body posture/sightline along the line, my guess is Pierre will lean toward the inside edge instead of away from it. This play not only demonstrates the speed of the game but also that human error can and will occur, no matter good the player or official is. This play aside, the NHL Officiating Department could certainly use Hockey Hall of Fame legendary linesman Ray Scapinello to lead and coach the current crop of NHL linesmen, no matter how proficient they might be. Scamp learned from the very best in his day; the present group of linesman should be afforded the same privilege. ' ' '