CLEVELAND -- With his team in trouble, DeMar DeRozan flashed his All-Star form at the finish. DeRozan scored 16 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter, and the Toronto Raptors won for the sixth time in seven games with a 99-93 victory over the injury-riddled Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday night. "DeMar was huge down the stretch," Toronto coach Dwane Casey said. "He made shots, he made plays, he made some free throws." DeRozan also made a key defensive play with the Raptors leading 94-91 and 32 seconds remaining. He stole a pass from Spencer Hawes by knocking Tyler Zeller to the floor and then made two free throws for a five-point lead. "I dont have too many of those left in me," DeRozan said of the hard hit. "I kind of anticipated that." Terrence Ross hit a 3-pointer with 3:02 remaining to put Toronto ahead 90-89. DeRozan dunked on a baseline drive and added two free throws to give the Raptors a 94-91 lead with 1:23 remaining. Kyrie Irving, who played 45 minutes and the entire second half because of Clevelands depleted roster, scored 25 points and had nine assists. Cleveland has lost three straight after winning six in a row and fell 5 1/2 games out of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Irving had no problem with coach Mike Browns decision to leave him in the game. "I told Coach Im willing to do whatever it takes for us to get a win," Irving said after playing a career high in a 48-minute game. The Cavaliers again played without centre Anderson Varejao (sore back) and guards Dion Waiters (hyperextended left knee) and C.J. Miles (sprained left ankle). Ross scored 19 points while Greivis Vasquez added 15 for the Raptors, who beat the Cavaliers 98-91 in Toronto on Friday and have won three in a row. Toronto leads the Atlantic Division and is in third place in the Eastern Conference. Hawes, making his first start for Cleveland since being acquired from Philadelphia last week, scored 15 points. Cleveland took its last lead at 89-87 with 3:11 to play on Zellers two free throws, but Ross 3-pointer put Toronto ahead for good. Irving, the MVP of the All-Star game, was called for charging into Kyle Lowry in the final minute. The call was upheld after officials viewed a replay. Irving was bumped on his way to the basket on Clevelands next possession but no call was made. "Its part of the game," he said of the officiating. "The refs are going to make their call. Thats their job. You move on to the next play and the next game. Im going to pick myself up and get ready for Oklahoma City (Wednesday night)." The Raptors went on a 15-0 run over a span of 6:46 in the first and second quarters to take a 14-point lead, but Casey was displeased his team let the Cavaliers get back in the game. "Were nowhere near where we can walk in a game and expect to win," he said. "All of our games are grind it out. Were going to see everyones best haymaker. They threw their best haymaker at us, they played desperate. Give credit to them." The early offensive struggles were a major reason Brown didnt take Irving out in the second half. "When I pulled him in the first half we had a little trouble scoring," Brown said. "I thought he was in a little bit of a groove. Hes our best player so I wanted to leave him on the floor and see if he could help the second unit generate some easy baskets." Toronto had a five-point possession in the second quarter that began when Vasquez hit a 3-pointer. Hawes was called for a foul when he and Tyler Hansbrough went to the floor. Hawes was then given a technical for arguing the call, and DeRozan and Hansbrough each made a free throw. Hansbrough completed another three-point play after DeRozans basket. Jarrett Jack was called for a foul after Hansbrough was knocked to the floor. Jack was also hit with a technical. Toronto built a 36-22 lead but Cleveland cut the margin to 47-41 at halftime and scored the first seven points of the third quarter to take a one-point lead. NOTES: Brown said it was unlikely that Varejao, Waiters and Miles would make the trip to Oklahoma City. Varejao has missed the last seven games while Waiters has been out four straight and Miles three in a row. Brown said Varejao and Waiters have begun some on-court work. ... Raptors C Jonas Valanciunas had two points in 17 minutes and played only seven minutes in the second half. ... Zeller started the first six games Varejao missed. babyliss curl secret . Howard was ejected with 5:02 left in the third quarter in the Lakers 126-114 loss to the Nuggets on Wednesday night. He was called for a flagrant foul 2 when he jammed his hand in Farieds face as the Denver forward drove the lane. babyliss Big Hair . Ever since he arrived last week, the Kings have been a solid offensive team -- and the power forward finally added a couple of goals himself during Los Angeles latest win in the Freeway Faceoff. http://www.bab... .C. -- Carolina Panthers coach Ron Rivera says defensive co-ordinator Sean McDermott will interview for the Washington Redskins head coaching position this week. [url=http://www.babylissuk.co.uk/]babyliss uk . Alex Rodriguezs season-long suspension gives New York some space under the $189 million tax threshold just as coveted free-agent pitcher Masahiro Tanaka is negotiating with major league teams. babyliss pro perfect curl uk . UEFA opened a case Wednesday against the defending champions, which will be judged by its disciplinary panel on March 20. The case involves alleged "discriminatory behaviour of their supporters" and "display of an illicit banner," UEFA said in a statement.MIAMI -- Brian Cardinal took one look at Dirk Nowitzkis injured finger, turned to the Dallas Mavericks trainer and recommended his treatment plan. "Cut it at the knuckle," Cardinal said, making a scissors motion with his right hand. "Like Ronnie Lott." Good thing "Dr." Cardinal is a backup forward whose specialty is comic relief. Nowitzkis injury was more source of fun than concern Wednesday, starting from the moment he woke up. He expected the torn tendon at the tip of his left middle finger to be sore and throbbing and it wasnt either. So only the devilish teasers were even considering a Lott-like amputation of his fingertip. Nowitzki took the practice court wearing a splint to keep the finger straight and figures itll be mostly a nuisance for the next month or two. He and shooting coach Holger Geschwindner were planning their own workout later Wednesday to see which moves Nowitzki can and cant make and to come up with ways to compensate, starting with Game 2 of the NBA finals against the Miami Heat on Thursday night. "Hey, (Rajon) Rondo played with one arm, so he might be able to play with nine fingers," Geschwindner said, smiling. Nowitzki already is experimenting with different bandages. Trainer Casey Smith said, "Were going to make it as small as we can," and indeed Nowitzkis wrap at the start of practice was smaller than what he had at a news conference a few minutes before. He was down to a hard splint under the knuckle at the tip of his left middle finger, held on by strips of white tape. The bandage looped around the knuckle and tip, leaving the nail and top exposed. Nowitzki was hurt trying to strip the ball from Chris Bosh with a little under four minutes left in the opener. He knew something serious was wrong because he couldnt straighten the tip. The injury is known as a "mallet finger" and generally takes six to eight weeks to heal. With only quick, courtside treatment, Nowitzki managed to his 1-of-2 shots and all four free throws after the incident. He was 6-of-16 while healthy. Because the problem is on Nowitzkis non-shooting hand, most of what he does will not be affected. But some of his game will be. He likes to drive to his left, dribbling hard to get to his favourite shooting spots or taking it all the way to the rim. It also could affect him on defence; dont expect him to swipe down on the ball with the ferocity he did on the play when he was injured. "I think once the game starts, the adrenaline starts flowing, I dont think it will really slow me down much," Nowitzki said. "Im not really worried about it." Maybe he should be. Because Miami knows where hes hurting, and everyone knows how much Nowitzki means to Dallas, it only makes sense that guys are going to swipe at his hands more than ever, knowing that even if they dont snatch the ball, they might rattle the splint. "Somebodys going to swat down on it, whether they want to or not," Bosh said. "Its painful. As ballplayers, we all go through it." Teammate Jason Terry said some shooters actually benefit from hand injuries because &quoot;it helps you lock in even more.dddddddddddd" He echoed the words of all his teammates when he emphasized how certain he was Nowitzki would still carry Dallas offence. "I think Dirk can shoot the ball with his eyes closed, with no hands, if he had to, especially in a game of this magnitude," Terry said. With the Mavs joking about an injury to their best player, its clear they arent too uptight about losing the opener of the NBA finals, ending a five-game road winning streak or being down in a series for the first time this post-season. Besides, the Mavs made so many mistakes in Game 1 they figured they deserved to lose. Their biggest concern was getting outrebounded by 10. Coach Rick Carlisle called it losing at the line of scrimmage, saying, "The guys that hit first and hit most aggressively and with the most force are going to have the most success. And they did it better than we did last night." The Heat were especially good at chasing their own missed shots. They got 16 of them, leading to 13 more shots than Dallas. Miami got comfortable behind the arc, hitting 11 three-pointers, three more than any Mavs foe this post-season. Some of their attempts were so uncontested "they had time to set their feet, check the temperature in the gym and then let it fly," centre Brendan Haywood said. Dallas, meanwhile, made a playoff-low 37.3 per cent of its shots and got a measly 17 points from the bench. Terry scored 12, but all in the first half as he was smothered by LeBron James; it was a surprise move by Miami because the Mavs were expecting him to be the secret weapon against Nowitzki. Despite it all, the Mavs led after the first and second quarters and were up by eight points in the third quarter. They werent really out of it until the final five minutes, when Dwyane Wade, James and Bosh put on the kind of show their fans wanted to see. Each superstar made plays that sent the white-clad fans to their feet, hollering and celebrating as if it was 2006 all over again -- only better, because if Miami can win it all in the first season of their trio of collaborators, imagine how much better the Heat could be once the guys get more experience playing together. People around the country are certainly interested, too. Game 1 drew the highest overnight figures for an NBA finals opener since the 2004 series between the Pistons and Lakers. It was up 15 per cent from the start of the 2006 series between these same teams. While everyone saw James win a finals game for the first time in his career, and Wade dominate the second half much like he did during his MVP romp in 06, the Heat came away seeing plenty of room for improvement. They made only 38.8 per cent of their shots and didnt get rolling until the middle of the third quarter. They were slowed by Dallas defence switching from man-to-man to zones. "I think once we understood they were going to do that, we just said, lets just run our offence," Wade said. The Heat felt better Wednesday about their injury concern, too. Mike Miller practiced after leaving the arena the night before with his left arm in a sling. ' ' '