TORONTO - Its not a trait that Dwane Casey is entirely proud of, certainly not one hes comfortable relying on, but his team has mastered the art of procrastination. The Raptors had an early deadline Sunday, a dreaded afternoon game, and they left the bulk of their work until the last minute, as theyve done so many times before. Casey - like an angry parent, stringent teacher or meticulous boss - gave them the wake-up call they sorely needed. Down by as many as 14 points and allowing the visiting Hawks to shoot 54 per cent in the first half, the Raptors coach stormed into the locker room and addressed his team at intermission. "I sang them a lullaby," he joked. "I gave them some milk and cookies and said, lets go." You didnt have to be a fly on the wall to gauge the tone of Caseys halftime sermon. "Oh, man, he came in here yelling," said DeMar DeRozan after Torontos 96-86 comeback victory over Atlanta. "Once Casey yells, you either have to do your job or youre going to hear him yelling after the game. We understood." Having dropped their first four Sunday afternoon games this season - allowing at least 112 points in each of them - the Raptors hit the snooze again on this day. Toronto shot 28 per cent in the opening quarter, scoring 16 points and committing seven turnovers. "I told Tim Leiweke on the way in [the locker room], it was like pulling teeth," Casey said. "It was like going to the dentist office in that first half." "We were playing terrible [in] that first half," echoed DeRozan. It took nearly 17 minutes of game-time before he registered his first field goal. It took nearly 20 minutes before Kyle Lowry made his first bucket. "We knew what we had to do." Trailing by nine points to begin the fourth quarter, the Raptors finally got to business. Led by its two best players, Toronto scored 36 points in the final 12 minutes - more than they tallied in the first and third combined - while holding the Hawks to 15. On the season, Toronto has scored 209 points more than its allowed in the fourth quarter, the best mark in the NBA, and its not close. The two-time defending champion Miami Heat, second best, have outscored opponents by 141 in the final frame. Conference leaders San Antonio and Indiana are third and fourth best. The Raptors have won 10 games in which theyve trailed after three quarters this season, something they accomplished just three times a year ago. "Were just resilient, to be honest, man," said DeRozan. He and Lowry combined for 23 points on 8-of-11 shooting in the fourth after scoring 23 on 9-of-24 in the first three quarters. "We understand how important the game is coming out in the fourth quarter," continued, DeRozan, who finished with 21 points. "Everything matters. Our attention to detail on both ends definitely steps up. We understand weve got to pull out a win somehow, someway." Lowrys minutes down in win Less than five minutes into the game, Lowry was sent to the bench, replaced by Greivis Vasquez. It was an unprecedented early-game benching for the Raptors point guard who has been logging heavy minutes, playing the bulk of, if not the duration of the first quarter. He did not seem hurt, nor did it appear to be for disciplinary reasons. Later, less than six minutes into the third, he was replaced again. Limiting Lowrys minutes was the plan going in, Casey explained after the game. "Hes had a lot of minutes," said the Raptors coach. "I was talking to our medical people, and as an organization, were going to try to keep his minutes down as much as possible. Thats hard, believe me, as a coach and for him. Hes such a competitor." Theres nothing specific thats ailing Lowry, Casey said and he confirmed. Its the wear and tear of a long season that has the team concerned about Lowry, who is averaging nearly 37 minutes per night, a career-most. "I dont think [any] player in the NBA right now feels 100 per cent," said Lowry, after scoring 25 points Sunday. "Its that time of the year where everyone has nicks and nacks and bruises and all that stuff." Lowry logged 27 minutes, his fewest since Feb. 3 in Utah, a game he left with a knee injury. Amir goes down, and gets back up Battling for a rebound late in the fourth, Amir Johnson collided with Hawks guard Shelvin Mack and went down hard, holding his left knee. You may not be surprised when Johnson hits the deck, although its usually after tweaking one of his rickety ankles, but you shouldnt be surprised when he hops back up, which was the case again Sunday, waving off the trainers and remaining in the game. "It wasnt a scare, it was just initial pain," said Johnson, who had six points to go along with eight boards against the Hawks. "Once I walked it off, I was fine." His teammates have come to expect the occasional injury scare from him but that doesnt make it easier to cope with. "To be honest, hes probably our heart and soul so when that happened, it kind of scared us a little bit," Lowry said. "Ive seen Amir get hit by a Mack Truck and get up," joked DeRozan. "I always hate to see him go down. One thing about Amir, Amir plays through any and everything. He kind of scared me tonight. When he grabbed his knee, I kind of cussed at him a little to make sure he was alright." Going deep With Patrick Patterson out, still nursing an elbow injury, and Casey searching for bursts of energy in a lacklustre first half, the Raptors used 12 of their available players in Sundays game. Vasquez logged 28 minutes and led the bench in scoring for the fourth consecutive game with 12. No other Raptors reserve played more than Tyler Hansbroughs 12 minutes. Chuck Hayes played well, scoring four points and grabbing three rebounds in 11 minutes and Nando De Colo logged 10, hitting his first field goal in eight games with the Raptors. The stat Lowry extended his career-best streak of 19 or more points to nine games. Hes averaging 22.6 over that stretch, scoring 20 or more in each of his last six contests. The quote "Im only 24, Ill play the whole game," said DeRozan, on the possibility of having his minutes cut down, like Lowrys. "Kyles old. Hes damn near 30. I understand, youve got to do what youve got to do. Im ready for whatever." Steph Curry Shoes Deals . A 23-year-old rookie, Stroman is 4-2 with a 3.44 earned run average in 12 games this season, the past seven of those being starts. He logged the first scoreless outing of his career on Friday versus Oakland in a no-decision. Steph Curry Shoes Free Shipping . - Rookie Tesho Akindele scored three goals and Fabian Castillo added two in FC Dallas 5-0 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday night. https://www.stephencurryshoescheap.com/.com) - Oregon wasnt going to let Arizona ruin its national title dreams for a second straight season. Cheap Steph Curry Shoes . -- Theres something about playing on Orlandos floor lately that seems to bring out the best in the Dallas Mavericks. Wholesale Steph Curry Shoes . "Its embarrassing what were doing here," leading scorer Phil Kessel said Wednesday. The most recent failed season came with even more pain than the six that preceded it. There was no hint of an impending implosion when the Leafs came roaring out of the all-star break with back-to-back games against Pittsburgh -- a 5-4 shootout loss followed by a 1-0 win the next night. PHOENIX -- A game that was uncomfortably close for the Phoenix Suns for nearly three quarters turned into a rout in a flash. The Suns pulled away with a 23-3 run and went on to beat the NBAs worst road team, the Orlando Magic, 109-93 on Wednesday night. "Even going into the fourth quarter we were only down by four," Magic rookie Victor Oladipo said. "They just kind of went on a crazy run." Goran Dragic scored 18 points to lead a balanced Phoenix offence. Gerald Green added 14 points, including three 3-pointers during the Suns outburst. Channing Frye and Markieff Morris added 12 apiece and Miles Plumlee had 10 points and nine rebounds for the Suns, back from a 2-1 eastern trip. Tobias Harris scored 23 points and Arron Afflalo had 20 for the Magic, who are 1-22 on the road since mid-December and an NBA-worst 4-32 away from home for the season. Orlando, already without Jameer Nelson (sore left knee), lost centre Nicola Vucevic when he drew two quick technical fouls and was ejected with 2:32 left in the first quarter. Vucevic had eight points in 9 1/2 minutes when he was tossed. The first technical came for arguing that he was fouled when Frye blocked his shot. The second came when he threw the ball at Frye after the Phoenix forward drew an offensive foul on him. "Hes a load down there," Frye said, "so I just tried to do what I could do, and he didnt like it." The win left the Suns 1 1/2 games behind Dallas and Memphis for the final two playoff spots in the Western Conference. Neither team led by more than seven before the Suns big run took off late in the third quarter. With the game tied at the break, coach Jeff Hornacek told his players it was time to look like a team that belonged in the post-season. "I told them to just get after it and go take the team if you want to be a playoff team," he said, "and thats what they did." Marcus Morriss hit a pair of 3s as Phoenix outscored the Magic 8-1 to end the third quarter after Orlando had taken its first lead of the second half, 73-72 on Andrew Nicholsons inside basket with 1:57 left in the period.dddddddddddd The Magic still led, 75-74, when Harris made two free throws 20 seconds later. Morris made a 3, Dragic scored on layup off a Magic turnover, then Morris made another 3, with 2.9 seconds left in quarter. Green stretched the run to 14-1 with two 3s to open the fourth quarter, then added another moments later. By the time Markieff Morris made a 15-footer, the Suns were up 97-78 with 7:45 left. Phoenix led by as many as 21 after that. Green had struggled with his shot before he hit those three big ones. "I just had to stay with it," he said. "I was going to get shots up and I knew I was going to be able to get open and try to make plays." The Magic, losers at Golden State on Tuesday night, scored the first six points of the game, and that was the biggest lead of the half for either team. The score was tied at 25 after one and at 52 at the break. Frye scored the first five in a 7-0 spurt to start the second half to put Phoenix up 59-52 on P.J. Tuckers fast-break layup. Miles Plumlees dunk on a feed from Dragic had Phoenix up 65-58 with 6:18 left in the third. However, Afflalos four-point play capped a 9-2 run that tied it at 67 with 3:34 remaining in the period. "They came out and really pushed it at us," Orlando coach Jacque Vaugn said. "We helped them a little bit by tying to make it complicated instead of the simple play. We will continue to stress that. A lot of times the simple play is good enough. " NOTES: Orlandos lone road win since Dec. 16 was at Philadelphia on Feb. 26. ... Only five of the Suns remaining 14 games are at home. ... The game was Orlandos second stop on a four-game road trip. ... Orlando joined Milwaukee and Philadelphia as 50-game losers. ' ' '