TORONTO - For the first time in a week, Dwane Casey and his team had actual game tape to review in practice Thursday. [url=http

TORONTO - For the first time in a week, Dwane Casey and his team had actual game tape to review in practice Thursday. Fake Hurricanes Jerseys . The Raptors, fresh off an opening night victory over the Celtics, had plenty to digest after barely coming away with a win the night before. "I thought we did some good things in building the lead and some bad things in giving it back," Casey said after practice Thursday, his team giving up a 16-point third quarter lead before pulling away in the fourth. "I thought we had some execution issues once we had the lead." Specifically, Casey was critical of some lazy passes and the teams poor transition defence that allowed Boston to score 25 points off the Raptors 18 turnovers. The execution issues Casey referenced stemmed from a stagnant offence down the stretch. To Caseys admission, the ball stuck too often in the final quarter. Rudy Gay and DeMar DeRozan relied heavily on isolation sets, leading to difficult shots and poor shooting nights for both of the Raptors wing players. "Weve got to get the ball popping and moving," Casey acknowledged. "Theyre sending crowds to [DeRozan and Gay]. We had wide open looks on the draw and kick issues and we didnt make those plays." "Well do it," he continued. "I think the first game, [as] we saw last night, its different than preseason. The intensity level is higher than preseason." Kyle Lowry suggested that he and his teammates were especially cautious with the ball, restricting ball movement, because of the aggressive defence they saw from the scrappy young Celtics. "They still have some remnants of the old KG, Pierce and that defensive group, which was always perennially one of the top defensive groups," Casey said, to Lowrys point. "It was a good test for us but again, teams are going to game plan and teams are going to prepare for DeMar and Rudy and weve got to be able to play off them." Lowry wont blame injury for shooting woes Kyle Lowry refused to make excuses for his poor shooting night. The Raptors point guard shot 2-for-8 from the field, 0-for-3 from three-point range and 7-of-12 at the line in his first game playing with a protective splint wrapped around an injured left ring finger. "It is what it is, just an off shooting night," Lowry said Thursday, chalking it up to early season rust instead of the injury on his non-shooting hand. As for the splint itself, Lowrys still adjusting to it although Casey insists it hasnt affected his point guards play. "I told him he may not have had a great shooting night but everywhere else, he did a heck of a job," Casey said. "He did a lot of good stuff defensively and I think once he gets used to the [splint] on his finger, thats going to help him tremendously." "I dont think Ill ever get used to anything on my hand, on my fingers," Lowry said of the splint, which hell be required to play and practice with for approximately five more weeks. "But Ive got no choice right now." Amir from three It appears Amir Johnson has added the three-point shot to his repertoire. The Raptors forward, who played in his 300th game with the team on Wednesday, launched just 13 triples last season - a career high - making five of them, also a career best. In Wednesdays opener, he connected on one of three attempts from long range. The trey that fell was big for his team, a shot Vitor Faverani dared him to take with 6:20 left and one he celebrated by sweeping the floor with his hand. "It was good [that] I finally hit one," Johnson said after the game. "They left me open. I know [the fans] were kind of hyping me up so I definitely had to shoot it. I knew it was good as soon as I released it." "That was my celebration. I dont know, Im just trying to figure out different three celebrations." A day later, Casey said hes fine with Johnson launching from deep, provided he doesnt overdo it and uses the addition to his game at the right times. "Im okay with it [but] we dont want to make a living out of it," Casey said. "Id rather for him to get into early post-ups and dive into the paint but hes worked on it, hes earned it, corner threes are good shots for him." "I think teams now will respect him enough to go out and guard him." On the road again The Raptors get set to hit the road, where theyll play six of their next eight games and 19 of 33. Playing away from the Air Canada Centre was a challenge for Toronto last season. The team went 13-28 away from the Air Canada Centre. "You always want to do a good job on the road," Casey said. "Thats tough for a veteran team and a young team but moreso for a young team." "Being focused on the road, going in with the same seriousness and focus when youre not in your home arena is huge. Its going to be a good measuring test for us in these first two games." Their first pair of road contests will come in a weekend back-to-back, visiting Atlanta on Friday and traveling to Milwaukee on Saturday. Hurricanes Jerseys 2020 . Lost to Los Angeles in first round of playoffs. Carolina Hurricanes Gear . The question all fans want to know heading into this light heavyweight affair is will Rua display his true potential. Working with UFC welterweight fighter Demian Maias team in Sao Paulo Brazil and having training partners such as fellow UFC stand outs Fabio Maldonado and Daniel Sarafian, the 32-year old feels very well prepared for Friday nights encounter. https://www.cheaphurricanes.com/ .com) - The Carolina Hurricanes hope to remain perfect at home in January on Friday night as they welcome the Vancouver Canucks to PNC Arena.Landover, MD (SportsNetwork.com) - Tony Romo had a pair of touchdown passes to Dez Bryant as the Dallas Cowboys pounded the Washington Redskins, 44-17, in the final game of the regular season. Dallas came into the game having already secured its first NFC East crown since 2009 and had the potential to sit as high as first overall, but will have the third seed and host the Detroit Lions next week. Our job was to take care of what needed taking care of, said Dallas head coach Jason Garrett. Thats what we did. We practiced right all week and I thought we played the right way today. Romo finished the game 22-for-34 for 299 yards with an interception, and DeMarco Murray set a franchise record for rushing yards in a season for the Cowboys (12-4), who won their final four games of the season to post their best mark since a 13-3 finish in 2007. Im playing at a level Im proud of and hope to get better, said Romo. Im just excited about the progression of improvement and want to keep this going in our next game. Murray, who totaled 100 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries, finished the regular season with an NFL-best 1,845 yards to surpass Emmitt Smiths single- season mark of 1,773 yards in 1995. Robert Griffin III finished off a lackluster season with 336 yards and a touchdown along with two interceptions on 27-of-41 attempts for the Redskins (4-12), who finished last in the division for a second straight year. As a player, you always have to know who you are, said Griffin. I know who I am and what I need to get better at. We get to play this game and have an opportunity to play this game, its a blessing. The Cowboys started the game with the ball and put points on the board as Dan Bailey hit a 36-yard field goal to give the team a 3-0 lead just under four minutes in. Jason Witten caught a pair of passes for 25 yards on the drive. Each team then exchanged long touchdowns, with the Redskins scoring after DeSean Jackson caught a short pass out to the left and getting a nice block on his way to a 69-yard score. It was the first opening drive touchdown for Washington in 13 games. Carolina Hurricanes Shirts. Four plays later, Bryant caught a short pass out to the left and made a move past the initial defender and raced down the sideline, stiff-arming another tackler near the end zone on his way to a 65-yard score. After a three-and-out, the Cowboys put more points on the board when Romo went deep to the left corner of the end zone and Bryant made a leaping grab for a 23-yard score. The play was initially ruled incomplete, but a review showed that Bryant held the ball and got both feet on the ground before going out of bounds. On the play before the score, Murray took a carry for 32 yards to break Smiths single-season rushing record. Getting the ball back after another three-and-out from the Redskins, the Cowboys got a 32-yard field goal from Bailey for a 20-7 lead, and quickly got the ball back as they recovered a surprise onside kick attempt. The short field enabled Dallas to take a 20-point lead, as Murray broke a couple of tackles on his way to a 9-yard score with 8:10 to play in the first half. Washington came back with a nearly seven-minute drive that got the team into the red zone, but came away with just a 25-yard field goal from Kai Forbath to make it a 27-10 game going into the break. After a scoreless third quarter, the Redskins were able to make it a 10-point game with 6:45 to play as Griffin ran the ball in for a 2-yard score to cap a 10-play, 58-yard drive. The Cowboys, though, came back with a 61-yard drive capped on a Bailey 23-yard field goal with 3:31 to play to put the game out of reach. Griffin fumbled the ball two plays later, with Anthony Spencer taking it in from five yards out, and Joseph Randles 65-yard touchdown run with 1:40 to play turned the game into a rout. Game Notes Bryant set the franchise record for touchdown receptions in a season with 16, passing Terrell Owens mark of 15 set in 2007 ... Dallas went 8-0 on the road this season ... Washington finished the season 3-5 at home ... Dallas totaled 457 yards and Washington finished with 413. ' ' '