TORONTO - Once he got going, no one could calm Jonas Valanciunas down, despite Kyle Lowrys best efforts. As Valanciunas was whistled for a rare technical toward the end of the third quarter - a result of waving his hand at an official after being called for a foul - Lowry pulled the Raptors sophomore aside, corralling him by his jersey and patting him on the back. "Youve got to be smart in certain situations," Lowry told the young centre. "I just tried to say look, you cant waste your money." "Yeah, he was trying to calm me down," Valanciunas said of the conversation with his point guard, speaking with a mischievous look on his face following the Raptors 98-91 win over the Cavaliers. "That technical foul cost me, so I feel bad now." He shouldnt. The tech will cost Valanciunas a small fraction of his next paycheque but the unbridled emotion he played with in the second half of Fridays game was the driving force of Torontos rapid turnaround. Valanciunas, like the rest of his team, got off to an ugly start. The Raptors were fortunate to be down by only five going into the break, scoring just 39 points in the first half and shooting 33 per cent from the field. For the third straight game coming out of the All-Star break, Valanciunas got a quick hook in the first quarter. The seven-footer has been strangely quiet of late, averaging under six points in four games entering Fridays contest. His minutes have been down, as hes battled growing pains on the defensive end. After being sent to the bench midway through the opening quarter, he sat for around 12 minutes of game time before re-entering. Somewhere, somehow, someone lit a fire under the sophomore and not only did it spark him, it ignited the whole team. Valanciunas was a possessed man coming out of the halftime break. He was aggressive on defence, manic on the boards and dominant down low. He ran the floor with a purpose, worked to establish position, then demanded the ball. As he turned to face up Clevelands Tyler Zeller midway through the third, he pump faked - not once, but twice - took the contact and drained the jumper. Before completing the three-point play, he pumped his fist in the air and yelled out to the crowd, or the Cavs, or his teammates, or whoever was listening. His face was as red as the logo at centre court. He meant business. "Hes going to have ups and downs but tonight he was intense," Lowry said of Valanciunas, who had 10 points and four rebounds in the third quarter, finishing the game with 18 points and eight boards. "He really kind of carried us with his intensity and his passion and fire tonight." The 21-year-olds inspired play lifted the Raptors in what turned out to be a game-deciding third quarter. Toronto scored 37 points in the frame - two fewer than its first-half total - and shot 70 per cent, turning a five-point deficit at intermission into an 11-point advantage going into the fourth. "Hes our enforcer in the paint," said Amir Johnson, who returned to the starting lineup Friday after coming off the bench in his two previous outings, nursing an ankle injury. "When he gets going, everybody else plays good and that just gets everybody open shots when hes scoring in the paint." Johnson also came to life in the second half, the two bigs even hooked up on an alley-oop lob - from Johnson to Valanciunas - late in game. "We had to give our bigs a wakeup call," Dwane Casey said. "They turned it around in the second half. We reminded them, theres more to the game than the offensive end." "You can do a lot of different things other than make shots," he continued, "and I thought the second half, Amir Johnson and JV worked at it and got it done." Although Valanciunas helped turn the game, the best Raptor on the night - from start to finish - was fellow sophomore Terrence Ross, hands down. Ross scored a team-high 20 points, shooting 9-for-18, but his most important contribution was on the defensive end, where he went toe-to-toe with All-Star Game MVP Kyrie Irving. When the game began, Ross was assigned to check former Raptor Jarrett Jack while Lowry defended Irving. Early in the first quarter, there was a switch and Ross ended up on the Cavs point guard and leading scorer. It stuck for the rest of the evening, and Ross did not disappoint. The Raptors forward used his length and athleticism to frustrate Irving, forcing him to launch tough perimeter jumpers, keeping him out of the paint and holding him to 3-of-16 shooting. "He can score in a lot of different ways [and] get his teammates involved," Ross said of Irving, who ended up with 17 points and nine assists for Cleveland. "So if you slow him down, you slow the team down." "He had to chase [Irving] everywhere," Johnson said of Ross. "He chased him off screens, he didnt quit on plays and thats how you have to play a guy like that. [Irvings] so crafty and hes always moving so you just have to keep a body on him and stay in front of him. [Ross] did a great job." It was Canada Basketball Night at the Air Canada Centre Friday, as local product and first overall pick Anthony Bennett made his NBA debut in Toronto. Bennett, who continues to improve after a slow start to the season, knocked down his first two shots and finished with nine points in 15 minute of action while fellow Canadian Tristan Thompson scored 13 to go along with nine boards. In snapping Clevelands six-game winning streak, the Raptors picked up their 30th win of the campaign, doing so in just 55 games. It took them 78 contests to reach the 30-win mark a year ago. Adidas Ultra Boost 2018 . That was OK with him. He was just happy his team came away with two points. Letestu redirected Jack Johnsons shot from the point with 2:38 left, lifting the Blue Jackets past the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 on Monday night. Wholesale Ultra Boost . While plenty of statistics illustrate Torontos turnaround in the second year of manager Ryan Nelsens tenure, stopping goals is not one of them. http://www.cheapultraboostshoes.com/. Ashton scored a hat trick -- giving him 13 goals in 16 AHL games this season -- to power the Toronto Marlies to a 5-2 victory over the visiting Lake Erie Monsters in AHL action on Sunday. White Ultra Boost 2018 . He, the 25-year-old Toronto backup net-minder and Manitoba native, would be making just his fourth start in the past 16 games against the Jets the following evening. It was the word of opportunity for Reimer, who has fallen into the role of backup, outmatched in recent weeks by Jonathan Bernier, his Quebec counterpart. Cheap Ultra Boost Shoes . Niese pitched seven steady innings on a rainy Tuesday night and Daniel Murphy had three hits to lead New York to a 6-1 victory over the Phillies.TSN.ca presents its latest weekly power rankings for the 2013-14 Barclays Premier League season. Rankings were weighted evenly between separate lists made by TSN Radio host and soccer analyst Gareth Wheeler as well as TSN.cas soccer editors. 1. Chelsea (Last Week -1) Samuel Etoo fired home a hat-trick to help Chelsea keep pace with the other title contenders as they scored a 3-1 victory over Manchester United. This triumph is the sixth victory in seven Barclays Premier League games for Chelsea. 2. Manchester City (LW-2) Manchester blew past the 100 goal mark for the season in a 4-2 victory over Cardiff City. Edin Dzeko, Jesus Navas, Yaya Toure and Sergio Aguero were all on target for City, who once again dominated on their home field. 3. Arsenal (LW-3) Santi Cazorla scored twice in five minutes in the second half to earn a 2-0 victory for top of the table Arsenal over Fulham. The Gunners sprung to live in the second half after a quiet first, to collect all three points. 4. Tottenham (LW-6) Emmanuel Adebayor scored a goal in each half as Tottenham earned a 3-1 victory over Swansea. Spurs are now level on points with fourth place but behind on goal differential. 5. Liverpool (LW-4) Steven Gerrards second half penalty rescued a point for Liverpool as they drew 2-2 with Aston Villa at Anfield. Daniel Sturridge scored their other goal in first half injury time and Luis Suarez drew the foul that earned the crucial penalty. 6. Everton (LW-5) Kevin Mirallas first half goal was not able to stand up as Everton had to settle for a 1-1 draw with West Brom. Everton slipped out of the European places and now sit sixth in the table. 7. Newcastle United (LW-8) Yohan Cabaye scored a brace and Loic Remy added the goal that turned out to be the winner as Newcastle bested West Ham 3-1. 8. Manchester United (LW-7) Substitute Javier Hernandez scored the only goal for Manchester United as they fell 3-1 to Chelsea. The loss leaves the champions 14 points off the top of the table. 9. Southampton (LW-9) After goals from Jay Rodriguez and Dejan Lovren, Southampton were not able to hold on for the victory as they settled for a 2-2 draw with Sunderland. The Saints controlled the play but were not aable to find the third goal to put the game away.dddddddddddd 10. Aston Villa (LW-13) Andreas Weimann and Christian Benteke scored first half goals as Aston Villa earned a road point in a 2-2 draw with Liverpool. 11. West Bromwich Albion (LW-12) Diego Lugano scored in the 75th minute to steal a point for West Brom from Everton in a 1-1 draw. It was Luganos first Premier League goal and it helped his side avoid a loss. 12. Hull City (LW-10) Hull were hanging on in a game they were out played in, until a goal and a red card in the final three minutes doomed them to a 1-0 loss at the hands of Norwich. Tom Huddlestone was the man sent off after fouling Leroy Fer. 13. Norwich City (LW-15) Defender Ryan Bennetts 87th minute header was the difference as Norwich bested Hull City 1-0. This was Norwichs first victory at Carrow Road since November. 14. Swansea City (LW-11) Swansea continued their trend towards the bottom of the table as they fell 3-1 at the hands of Tottenham. Wilfried Bonys 78th minute marker was their only goal and came after the game had already been decided. 15. Stoke City (LW-14) Stoke had a few chances but in the end were not able to get anything past Julian Speroni as they fell 1-0 at the hands of Crystal Palace. 16. Crystal Palace (LW-20) Tony Pulis led his new club against his former charges and Jason Puncheon scored the only goal as Crystal Palace beat Stoke City 1-0. This was Palaces first league win since Boxing Day. 17. Sunderland (LW-18) Adam Johnson scored his fourth goal in a week to earn a point for Sunderland as they drew 2-2 with Southampton. 18. West Ham United (LW-16) A Newcastle own goal was the only offence West Ham would get as they slumped to a 3-1 loss. Newcastle defender Michael Williamson did the deed two minutes into first half injury time but in the end had no effect on the final outcome. 19. Cardiff City (LW-17) Craig Noone and Fraizer Campbell both found the net at Etihad Stadium but Cardiff became the 11th team to lose a road game to Manchester City, 4-2. 20. Fulham (LW-19) Fulham was able to control Arsenal during the opening half but Santi Cazorla goals in the 57th and 62nd minute condemned them to a 2-0 road loss. ' ' '