TORONTO - For the first time in a week, Dwane Casey and his team had actual game tape to review in practice Thursday. 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. Cheap Jerseys Authentic . Snelling was a seventh-round pick from Virginia in 2007 and spent his full career with the Falcons. Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping . Swansea capitalized on the 80th-minute sending-off of substitute Fabio Da Silva by scoring in the last minute through Wilfried Bony in a 2-1 win at United, the latest setback for David Moyes in his turbulent first season with the English champions. http://www.cheapauthenticjerseys.u... . According to a report from the Toronto Star, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment says its being pushed to bring the Toronto Argonauts to BMO Field. [url=http://www.cheapauthenticjerseys.us.com/]Jerseys Cheap . Halak, 28, has appeared in 40 games with the St. Louis Blues this season recording a 24-9-4 record, with a 2.23 goals against average and a .917 save percentage. He was acquired by the Sabres on Feb. Cheap Jerseys China . The Twins announced the switch on Monday for the 30-year-old Mauer, who missed the last six weeks of the schedule recovering from his head injury. He took a foul tip off the mask on Aug.VANCOUVER -- Vancouver Canucks 2013 first-round draft choice Hunter Shinkaruk will undergo hip surgery in early January and is expected to miss the rest of the WHL season. "Hes going to have hip surgery on Jan. 7, and hell be expected to rehabilitate for four to six months beyond that," Canucks general manager Mike Gillis said Friday in an interview. Shinkaruks minimum recovery time gives him a chance to return in mid-May for the Memorial Cup tournament, if his Medicine Hat Tigers qualify by winning the WHL championship. But the odds of him coming back quickly appear long, given that hip problems usually rank among the most serious and require extended rehabilitation periods. Shinkaruk was chosen 24th overall in this years NHL draft and was among Vancouvers last pre-season cuts. The Medicine Hat captain was invited to Team Canadas selection camp for the world junior hockey championships, but was released for the second straight year after travelling to Sweden with the club before the tournament started. "Hes got a slightly torn labrum," said Gillis. "But it doesnt matter if its slightly or more torn. He suffered it early on in the season, tried to play through it and wanted to have an opportunity to make the world junior team. Clearly, his play droopped off fairly considerably after the injury.dddddddddddd. "He gave it his best effort and the plan all along was that this (decision to have surgery) was going to happen regardless, so it happened a little bit earlier." Gillis said the injury contributed to Shinkaruk, a 19-year-old Calgary native, not having the best opportunity to make Team Canada. The surgery will be performed in Vail, Colo., by Dr. Marc Phillipon, who specializes in repairing hip disorders. Shinkaruk was among two first-round choices selected by Vancouver this year. The Canucks took London Knights centre Bo Horvat with the ninth pick, which they acquired in a draft-day trade from New Jersey for goaltender Cory Schneider. Gillis expects Shinkaruk to be healthy in time for Vancouvers training camp in the fall. "We think hell make a fully recovery and that hell be fully cleared to try and make the hockey club in September," said Gillis. Shinkaruk has recorded five goals and 11 assists for 16 points with the Tigers this season. His junior team is also optimistic that he will bounce back from the ordeal. 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