MEMPHIS - Rudy Gay has played 244 games in Memphiss FedExForum, perhaps none as vindicating as this one. Christian Villanueva Jersey . Coming off the worst shooting night of his career - one of the worst in league history - in a devastating loss on Monday, the Raptors forward bounced back at an opportune time for both himself and his team. For the first time since the three-team trade that sent Gay from the Grizzlies, the only NBA team he had ever known, to Toronto last winter, the 27-year-old returned to Memphis on Wednesday and left with a convincing victory that the Raptors sorely needed. "I dont think it was for me as much as we needed it anyway," Gay said, deflecting attention off himself moments after he scored 23 points on 8-of-18 shooting in Torontos 103-87 upset win over the reigning Western Conference finalists in Memphis. "For me personally, it was a little emotional, but other than that, especially coming off the Houston loss, we needed this game." After shooting an abysmal 11-for-37 from the field in the double-overtime loss to the Rockets, Gay eased into his return. He began the game with a concerted effort to get his teammates involved, but when he failed to convert on any of his first four field goal attempts, the look on faces around the arena spoke louder than words. Here we go again, everyone thought. But then Gay did what he does best. He kept shooting. This time he got into a rhythm and when hes locked in, as Grizzlies fans remember, he becomes an exceptionally dangerous scorer. "After last game, I just wanted to get my teammates involved first, move the ball around, get the offence moving and I picked my spots where I wanted to be aggressive," he said. "I missed shots," he acknowledged of the slow start. "Ive missed shots before, last game I missed a lot of shots, so its nothing. Im one of those guys that, if I go out there and miss two, Im going to make sure I make the third." He missed fou,r but then he made the next one and then the shot after that. In fact, he hit four straight, three of them from beyond the arc and just like that, the Raptors were firing on all cylinders. They led by as many as 15 in the first half, 11 at the break. The Raptors offence that looked so terrible in Houston followed Gays lead, as you would imagine. As he looked to distribute, so did DeMar DeRozan. Both players had four assists and Kyle Lowry added six in his best game of the season. As a team, Toronto had 11 assists in 24 minutes, one more than they accumulated in 58 minutes two nights prior. "Its a lot easier because we drew so much attention," said DeRozan, who had 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting. It was the first of nine games this season where both he and Gay were effective at the same time. "One of us has to sacrifice. If we draw two or three guys, we have to kick it to the next man and hell create for the next player. Thats how we have to play. Once we play like that consistently, its definitely going to be hard to guard us." The start of the third quarter brought on another here we go again moment. The Grizzlies, as good teams do, made their run led by the explosive Mike Conley, who scored 12 of his game-high 29 points in the period. With 15 minutes left to play, the home team had tied it up at 70. We have seen this narrative before and we know how it plays out, generally. Perhaps the Raptors have learned something from heartbreaking collapses of the past. Perhaps it was an outlier. But they refused to back down from the Grizzlies, a quality and always-intimidating opponent. They ended the third quarter strong and, by the time the fourth rolled along, the game belonged to Gay. It was his night regardless of whether or not his humility would allow him to accept it. "Thats where you find that extra motivation," DeRozan said, mindful of what this game represented for his teammate. "Every game you look for it somewhere, somehow and tonight we played a lot for him. We knew how much he wanted to come back here and win." The reception Gay received as he was introduced to the fans before tip-off was primarily a positive one, but by the time the game was out of reach for the home team, they certainly made him feel like an opponent. As Gay drilled a 19-footer midway through the fourth, giving his team their largest lead of the evening at 19, boos rained down from the stands. "Thats when I realized I dont play here anymore," he joked. What does this game mean in the larger scheme of things? No one knows. The Raptors, at least for now, hope to be a winning team and to do that theyll need to steal games like this. Sure, you can excuse them for cowering to superior teams - Miami, Indiana, Houston - but at some point you need to win one youre not supposed to. They did that on Wednesday and theyll need to do more of it to reach their ultimate goal. "It was a great night for our team," said Lowry, who finished with 21 points. "The effort we showed tonight is how we should play every night." Getting to the line The Raptors set the tone early in the game, aggressively attacking the rim and earning the benefit of the doubt from the officials the rest of the night. "This is a very physical team and we had to be the aggressor," said Lowry, another former Grizzly. "Their physicality can take anybody out of the game, so our goal tonight was to be really aggressive and try to get to the basket and get to the free throw line as much as we could." Toronto outscored the Grizzlies 33-11 at the line, outshooting them 39-17 from the stripe. Quiet, consistent production from Ross Last season, very little of what rookie Terrence Ross did was quiet. He would exchange several ineffective minutes on the floor - on both ends - for one highlight-calibre dunk that would almost mask the inconsistency that held him back as a player. For the second straight game, Ross has been quietly useful. Hes been efficient offensively, shooting three-of-five, where he may be starting to understand that sometimes less is more and, most importantly, hes been a standout on defence. "Hes very poised out there," Dwane Casey said of Ross, who contributed eight points in 20 minutes off the bench. "Hes growing as a player and thats what this year is about for him." Up next After playing six of their first nine games on the road to begin the season, the Raptors happily return home for six of their next seven. Theyll host the Chicago Bulls at the Air Canada Centre Friday evening, a game you can catch live on TSN 1050 Radio beginning at 7:00 pm et. Rollie Fingers Jersey . Then again, he really was at his home away from home. "It was nice to sleep in my own bed last night," Shields said after pitching Kansas City past the San Diego Padres 8-0 Wednesday. Custom San Diego Padres Jerseys . 1 goaltender tonight when they conclude a four-game road trip versus the Winnipeg Jets. http://www.padresrookiestore.com/Padres-Freddy-Galvis-Kids-Jersey/ .Balotelli uploaded on Instagram a picture of the video-game character Super Mario, with whom the Italy international shares a nickname, with text around the image including jumps like a black man and grabs coins like a Jew.TORONTO - When Masai Ujiri and the Raptors hit a crossroads at this time a year ago, evaluating the sustainability of their unexpected turnaround, while weighing the merits of a potential rebuild, the decision to stay the course was aided by a changing landscape in their division. The Celtics - winners of the Atlantic in five of the last seven seasons - had recently hit the reset button, the Knicks and Nets failed to meet overzealous early-season expectations and the 76ers were, and continue to be, comically terrible by design. Opportunity knocked and Ujiri took advantage. Facing adversity 12 months later, the slumping Raptors find themselves in their most precarious situation since. Still, their woes pale in comparison to the varying degrees of misfortune that plague their neighbours in the division. A recently gutted Celtics team played the role of slump-buster on Saturday. Losers of four straight, the Raptors came into the game in search of the mojo that had fuelled their success throughout 2014. How would we know when theyve gotten their grove back, Dwane Casey was asked just ahead of tip-off. Youll see it, the Raptors coach responded. Youll see it. Everyone will see it. It didnt happen until about midway through the second quarter, but, when it happened, we saw it and we knew. The Raptors team weve become accustomed to - the one that grinds and outworks people - was back, albeit against a watered-down opponent. Plagued by first-quarter flatness, as Casey put it, over recent games, they stumbled out of the gate yet again, outscored after 12 minutes for the ninth time in 11 contests. Then, as suddenly as it vanished, the Raptors got their edge back, besting Boston 90-70 the rest of the way. I thought our defensive mojo was back, Casey said after his team snapped a four-game losing streak in their 109-96 victory over the Celtics. I saw guys moving their feet, cracking down, rebounding, doing the things we needed to do with activity and anticipation. We was tired of it, said James Johnson, who returned to the starting lineup Saturday evening. Everybody buckled in. Everybody took responsibility for what they were doing and we started playing Toronto Raptors defence. Less than halfway into the season, Toronto has the Atlantic all but locked up, almost by default. Saturdays win was their sixth in six games against divisional opponents, giving them a 9 1/2-game lead over Brooklyn in the Atlantic. Bostons fate was sealed during the summer of 2013 when Danny Ainge pulled the plug on the teams aging core, exchanging Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and coach Doc Rivers for younger players, expiring deals and draft picks. Now, that liquidation process is nearing its completion. Over the last month, Ainge has jettisoned Brandan Wright, is in the process of moving Jeff Green and sent long-time Celtics star point guard Rajon Rondo to the Dallas Mavericks while accumulating up to 14 total picks (first and second round) in the next two drafts. In the Celtics and 76ers, this division features two of the most blatantly aggressive tanking franchises in recent memory - maybe ever. Meanwhile, the Nets are stuck in limbo, handcuffed by an aging core, sizeable contracts and an injured point guard (Deron Williams - out indefinitely with a rib ailment). The last-place Knicks - losers of 15 straight - have hit rock bottom, recently ridding themselves of J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert, while Carmelo Anthony contemplates shutting it down for the season. Tony Gwynn Jersey. . With both mismanaged New York franchises on the hook for the majority of their draft picks over the coming years, neither are in an enviable position in the near future. Expediting the rebuilding process is not easy, but its also not unprecedented. The Celtics won just 24 games in 2006-07 before utilizing the assets they had accumulated to acquire Garnett and Ray Allen, ultimately winning a title the following season. The Raptors themselves are proof that theres no exact science to turning around an ailing franchise. But even as the Raptors struggle to reestablish their defensive identity, make no mistake, any of these other four organizations would trade places with them in a heartbeat. And when was the last time that could be said? Barring an unforeseen fall from grace or a speedy rebuild effort from one of their counterparts, equally unlikely, the Raptors seem poised to maintain control of the Atlantic for years to come. JOHNSON PROMOTION After a series of uninspiring starts over their recent slide, Casey had been mulling over a temporary rotation shake-up. As expected, he pulled the trigger on Saturday, reinstalling James Johnson into the first unit in place of Landry Fields at the small forward position. Fields had started nine of 14 games for the injured DeMar DeRozan, sitting out with a concussion in between. Filling in for Fields, Johnson excelled, averaging 10.4 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.0 block and 1.4 steals on 62 per cent shooting in five starts last month. Most coaches are hesitant to give away a players starting spot as a result of injury - Casey has long been a proponent of this philosophy - so Fields got the job back upon his return. Ultimately the teams play, primarily in the first quarter and early in the third, forced his hand. Johnson found out about the change when he arrived to their pre-game shootaround less than three hours before tip-off. I came in at the regular time, got my work in, Johnson said. We split off to groups. I went to white squad (the second unit) like usual and coach switched me Logging 36 minutes in his return to the first unit, Johnson recorded a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds, giving the Raptors a much-needed energy boost at the position. He covers up a lot of mistakes, said Kyle Lowry, who scored 19 points himself. He covers a lot of floor, a lot of ground. His effort has been unbelievable this season and we need him to keep it up. We love his energy, we love his enthusiastic nature and what he brings to the table. Johnson - a 58-per-cent-shooter and owner of the teams second-best defensive rating - has been one of Torontos most reliable performers on both ends of the floor this season. Still, Casey has been hesitant to increase the versatile forwards role, given his long-standing reputation of trying to do too much, primarily on offence. Slowly, the Raptors coach is coming around to the new and improved Johnson, who has made a concerted effort to play within himself in his second stint with Toronto. I think hes been under control, Casey said ahead of Saturdays game. James plays within himself. Hell do things just out of playing the game that he gets caught up in every once and a while on both ends of the ball, defensively and offensively. Hes becoming more disciplined from that aspect. 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