TORONTO - When Greivis Vasquez was drafted by the Memphis Grizzlies, selected with the 28th overall pick in 2010, he joined an

TORONTO - When Greivis Vasquez was drafted by the Memphis Grizzlies, selected with the 28th overall pick in 2010, he joined an emerging Western Conference power. Air Max 1 Wholesale . At the time of the selection, the Grizzlies were coming off a promising campaign, the first for frontcourt duo Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph together in Memphis. Helmed by now former coach Lionel Hollins, the 2010-11 Grizzlies were one of the most improved teams in the league, building a defensive foundation that sticks with them to this day while finishing 10 games over .500, defeating the Spurs in the first round of the playoffs and taking the Thunder to seven games in the Conference Semifinals. Vasquez, a 24-year-old, Venezuelan-born rookie from the University of Maryland, was along for the ride. He played in 70 regular season games, backing up Mike Conley and helping the Grizzlies snap a four-year playoff draught - appearing in 13 postseason contests - before being traded to New Orleans ahead of the following, lockout shortened campaign. Memphis has not missed the postseason since. "Ive got respect for them because they gave me an opportunity to be in this league," said the fourth-year point guard, poised to make his second postseason appearance with the Raptors next month. "Thats a tough team to beat," he continued following his new teams impressive 99-86 win over the one that drafted him. "We beat a playoff team and that was a good win for us at home." Aside from new coach Dave Joerger - a former assistant under Hollins - and last years trade of Rudy Gay, the Grizzlies havent changed much. Theyre still a defensive juggernaut - ranked third in opponent points per game, just ahead of the Raptors - and they still feature the daunting interior pair of Gasol and Randolph. They still embody physical, hard-nosed, playoff-calibre basketball and the Raptors - looking ahead to their own postseason birth - took it right to them. It was another valuable test for Dwane Caseys team, not unlike the one they failed in Brooklyn earlier this week, but this time they passed with flying colours. "I dont mean this in a bad way with Memphis because I love the style of defence they play," Casey said, "but the only way you can challenge a bully is if you hit them first." "I dont think we did that in the first quarter," Casey said in reference to Torontos timid start. "We did in the second quarter and they responded. Youve got to have a physical mentality against a team like that and I thought our guys did that after the first quarter." Vasquez had a lot to do with that turnaround. He may not be the fastest, the quickest or the strongest but there are few who play the game harder. His energy was infectious, as it tends to be, when he entered the game late in the first quarter and it carried over into the second, where the Raptors ended the half on a 19-6 run. About 30 minutes later he changed the game again, this time for good. With the score knotted up at 80, midway through the fourth, Vasquez knocked down a 27-foot pull-up three. As the Grizzlies came up the floor, he picked off a pass and went coast-to-coast for layup. It was the biggest sequence of the night, ironically initiating a second 19-6 run to close out the victory. "Obviously physicality is going to be the big factor [in the playoffs]," said Vasquez, who finished with 17 points, five rebounds and six assists Friday. "We play physical, we punch teams and we let them know that its not going to be easy for any team to come to our house and beat us like that and thats what we did tonight." Usually relegated to 17-22 minutes per night, mostly playing in the understudy role to starter Kyle Lowry, Vasquez logged 28. With the Grizzlies playing small in the backcourt, Casey was able to pair Vasquez and Lowry for over eight minutes in both the second and fourth quarters. With the two point guards sharing the court for 19 minutes, the Raptors scored 23 points more than they allowed. Playing alongside the other, both Vasquez and Lowry were at their best on this night. Lowry - who totalled 22 points, seven rebounds and 12 assists - was able to play off the ball and spot up for jumpers, while Vasquez could get in the lane and facilitate with more space. For Vasquez - as he realizes - the obvious benefit to spending more time on the floor with Lowry is spending more time on the floor, period. "I think we should do it more often if you ask me but Im not the head coach," Vasquez said. "[Coach is] doing a great job leading us to win games. Obviously Coach Casey is an outstanding coach and today he gave me a chance to come off the bench and play with a rhythm and I got the job done." Vasquez, a starter in New Orleans last season, has seen sporadic playing time since arriving in the trade from Sacramento. Generally, when he has played more he has played well but the opportunity for playing time at the position is scarce. It is what it is, as Casey would say. Lowry is playing at an extremely high level and pairing them together is something that can only work in long stretches if the matchup permits it. "When I play regular minutes it allows me to have a presence in the game," he said. "A lot of times its really, really hard coming off the bench and just being effective or having a presence in the game real quick." For the most part, the Raptors have had success playing Lowry and Vasquez together this season, keeping in mind its only been done in favourable situations. In 346 minutes with the two point guards on the floor, the Raptors have outscored their opponents by 102 total points, per NBA.com/stats. With Casey looking to manufacture some rest for Lowry over the final five weeks of the season, playing him off the ball more often could be the solution. "Its easier for me," said Lowry, asked about playing alongside Vasquez, "because weve got a guy who is going to look for me and who can make the play. He gives me a chance to rest and hang out and shoot open threes. When hes playing like that, were a pretty good team." Vasquez and Jonas Valanciunas - who scored a season-high 23 points - both came up big for Torontos offence with Memphis elite perimeter defence locked into DeMar DeRozan and Terrence Ross. The Raptors two wing players shot a combined 6-for-16 Friday. Adidas Nmd Australia . Beanballs were the theme Friday night as the Red Sox and Rays had another AL East rumble, with Boston earning a 3-2 victory on A. Cheap Nmd Australia . Tottenham claimed top spot in Group K by winning 2-0 at Tromso after defender Adnan Causevic scored an own goal before Mousa Dembele put the result beyond doubt. Valencia made sure it will finish first in Group A with a 1-0 win at Swansea thanks to an early goal from Dani Parejo. http://www.discountaustraliashoes.com/ . However, it wasnt a problem on Monday night. Evgeni Nabokov made 23 saves for his 56th career shutout in the New York Islanders 3-0 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Monday night.Flushing Meadows, NY (Sports Network) - American 17-year-old qualifier Victoria Duval scored a monumental upset on Tuesday by beating 2011 champion and No. 11 seed Samantha Stosur in the first round of the U.S. Open Tuesday. Duval, who was playing in only her second grand slam match, posted a 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 win, which was only completed on her fourth match point. Stosur committed 56 unforced errors and had 10 double faults. A forehand winner sent Duval into the air in jubilation before the celebratory crowd at Louis Armstrong Stadium. "The crowd helped me a lot today. I know Sam is a great champion and I watched her when she won the U.S.Open," said Duval, who won her first match against a top-20 opponent. "I know she didnt play her best today." The story of Duvals rise to professional tennis is an eye-opening one. Although she was born in Miami, Duval spent her childhood in Haiti until the age of eight before moving back to the U.S. She started playing tennis a year before her move. Duvals parents are Haitian. Her father, who is a doctor in Port-au-Prince; was hurt in the devastating earthquake of 2010. Her mother was a professional ballet, jazz and tap dancer. Last year at this time, Duval was the recipient of the Maureen Connolly "Outstanding Player" award at the USTA Girls 18s National Championships. She will take on Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova in the second round. Hantuchova beat American wild card Maria Sanchez, 7-5, 6-2. "Theres a lot to be thankful for. You never know what could happen any day," Duval said. "Take everything I learned today and hopefully I can play like this again." Fourth seed Sara Errani, former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki and 2011 Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova were among the opening-round winners Tuesday. Second seed Victoria Azarenka was set to play Germanys Dinah Pfizenmaier in the final night match at Arthur Ashe Stadium. The former world No. 1 Azarenka is the reigning Australian Open champ and was last years U.S. Open runner-up to the great Serena Williams. The former French Open runner-up Errani, of Italy, double-bageled helpless Aussie Olivia Rogowska, 6-0, 6-0, while the sixth-seeded Dane and 2009 U.S. Open runner-up Wozniacki topped Chinese Duan Ying-Ying, 6-2, 7-5, and the seventh-seeded Czech slugger Kvitova got past Japanese felloww left-hander Misaki Doi in three sets, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, in 1 hour, 55 minutes on a warm, breezy Day 2 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. New Balance Outlet Online. "In the first round of Grand Slams its difficult all the time so you have to be focused," said Kvitova, who was a runner-up in New Haven, Conn., last week. "I didnt play my game all the match. I didnt have focus. I have to have more confidence." Kvitova, who captured Wimbledon in 2011, has never made it past the fourth round in New York. Her second-round opponent on Thursday will be capable Serb Bojana Jovanovski. Meanwhile, 10th-seeded Italian Roberta Vinci, a U.S. Open quarterfinalist a year ago, handled Hungarian Timea Babos, 6-4, 6-2, 13th-seeded former world No. 1 and former French Open champ Ana Ivanovic, also a 2012 quarterfinalist in Flushing, pasted Georgian Anna Tatishvili, 6-2, 6-0, and 14th-seeded Russian Maria Kirilenko mauled Belgian Yanina Wickmayer, 6-1, 6-1. In other action involving seeds, Ukrainian Elina Svitolina drove out No. 17 Slovak Dominika Cibulkova, 6-4, 6-3; Israeli Julia Glushko doused No. 20 Russian Nadia Petrova 6-3, 6-4; and No. 21 seed Simona Halep of Romania upended Great Britains Heather Watson, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. Halep is fresh off her title in New Haven and has won four events over the past two months. No. 22 Russian Elena Vesnina drilled German Annika Beck 6-1, 6-1; No. 26 Alize Cornet, of France, downed Portuguese Maria Joao Koehler 6-3, 6-2; No. 27 Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia beat American Mallory Burdette, 6-3, 7-5; 28th seed Mona Barthel of Germany topped Swede Johanna Larsson, 6-1, 6-4; and Taipeis Su-Wei Hsieh knocked out No. 31 Czech Klara Zakopalova 6-3, 6-3. The one-time world No. 3 Petrova has dropped her last six matches on tour. Kuznetsova was the 2004 U.S. Open champion and 2007 runner-up. In other matches involving Americans, Christina McHale defeated German Julia Goerges, 6-4, 6-3; 18-year-old Sachia Vickery made her WTA debut by topping Croat Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, 6-4, 6-4; Italian Karin Knapp drilled Grace Min, 6-3, 6-1; Romanian Alexandra Dulgheru took out Varvara Lepchenko, 6-7 (5-7), 6-2, 7-6 (7-5); Alison Riske ousted Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova, 6-3, 6-3; and Flavia Pennetta crushed Nicole Gibbs, 6-0, 6-2. Pennetta will tangle with her fellow Italian Errani on Thursday. ' ' '