TORONTO - The Raptors locker room was unnervingly quiet Friday evening, about how you would expect it after the implausible ending that sealed the teams fate in a double-overtime disaster. Shane Doan Jersey . In the back corner sat an inconsolable John Salmons, the elephant in the room. Facing his locker, Salmons slouched forward in his chair, his head down in his hands and a long black towel draped over him. One by one his teammates came over to comfort him, patting him on the back and offering words of encouragement. He didnt move. He remained in that position, perfectly still for over 30 minutes. They win as a team and they lose as a team, but Salmons felt the brunt of it on this night. What seemed like a sure victory late in the second overtime period began to unravel when an exceptional player made an exceptional shot. With the Raptors up by eight, 49 seconds away from an improbable victory and season-sweep of the 50-win Oklahoma City Thunder, Kevin Durant banked in a 27-foot three-point jumper. Following another Thunder three - this one courtesy veteran assassin Derek Fisher - Salmons threw away an inbounds pass on the baseline, only to break up Durants runner and get sent to the line. With less than 10 seconds remaining, now up two, Salmons clanked both free throws, paving the way for the leagues leading scorer to do what he does best. Break hearts. "Great players make great plays," Dwane Casey said of Durant, moments after his 31-foot pull-up dagger gave the Thunder a 119-118 victory. Since coming over from Sacramento in December, Salmons has been praised for his poise and veteran savvy late in games, many of which hes helped them win. This was not his finest hour. "Hes a veteran (and) in those situations youve got to believe in him, that hes going to make those free throws," Casey said of Salmons, playing in place of Terrence Ross, who left the game with a hip contusion. "We had to go with John in that situation. Hes been one of our best defenders in that situation, but its not just one guy." The Raptors, now 1-6 in OT this season, need to close out these types of games. Salmons needs to be better down the stretch, they know it and so does he. It was three months ago, almost to this day that the Raptors pulled off their most impressive win of the season, a 104-98 victory in Oklahoma City. Coming off an OT win in Dallas a couple days prior and trailing by as many as 10 in the fourth, Toronto shocked the Thunder, who were undefeated at home at the time. "It helped kick start us going forward," Casey said of that night. "It helped our chemistry, it helped our togetherness it helped blend in the old and the new guys together." It would not have happened if not for Salmons. The 12-year vet spearheaded his new teams comeback, scoring nine points in the final quarter. After the game his teammates raved about his leadership and calming effect on the floor. Kyle Lowry gave him the game ball. Like Patrick Paterson - still out with an injured elbow - Greivis Vasquez, who was spectacular before fouling out Friday, and Chuck Hayes, Salmons fingerprints are all over the teams resurgence and that should not be forgotten, internally or externally. The Raptors proved something to themselves in OKC that night. They proved that they belonged. Three months later, clinging onto the Easts third seed and top spot in the Atlantic Division, they fell just short of proving something to everybody else. For whatever reason the franchise and its fan base has been battered by losses of the devastating variety to the point in which theyre almost immune to them. Toronto has lost 10 straight overtime games at home, an NBA record. "It does (hurt)," Casey admitted, "but we cant let it." "We cant let this game (give us a) hangover. (Its) a big learning experience for our guys. Youre playing with one of the top teams in the league, one of the top players... and you give yourself a chance to win in (double) overtime." KD the magnificent It seems impossible to fathom that Friday once started off as a slow night for Durant. The Thunder forward made just three of his 12 first-half shots but once Russell Westbrook went down in the third quarter - colliding with Lowry and spraining his surgically repaired right knee - Durant, with the help of some generous officiating, completely took over. Durant scored 51 and finished with 12 rebounds and seven assists, getting to the line 19 times and extending his streak of 25 or more points to 34 games, longest since Michael Jordans 40-game run in 1986-87. Amirs memorable game Playing in his 500th career contest, Amir Johnson nearly willed his team to victory. The Raptors forward recorded a double-double of 25 points and 12 rebounds, connecting on 12 of his 19 shots in 50 minutes of action. He also spent the bulk of the second half guarding Durant, per his own request made after Ross exited with the hip injury. "It was tough, man," he said, asked about defending the leagues leading scorer. "Hes my height, out there shooting from half court. Theres not too much you can do but double team that." "He did a great job," Casey added. "I felt for him. Hes hurt. He was all over him, draped over him. (Durant) made a tough shot. Theres nothing Amir did wrong." The stat For the first time since Jan. 13, 2013, the Raptors had four players score 20 or more points. Along with Johnson, DeMar DeRozan led the Raptors with 33 points, hitting all but one of his 16 free throws, while Lowry added 25 and Vasquez scored 21 off the bench. The quote "We couldnt go another overtime," Durant said. "I had to live with whatever happened. You had to get out of there. I wasnt trying to go to another overtime. I pulled up for it, it looked good when it left my hands and God guided that thing to the basket, man. That was the craziest game Ive ever been a part of." Jakob Chychrun Jersey . -- Blake Griffin scored 32 points and grabbed eight rebounds, DeAndre Jordan had 14 points and 22 rebounds and the Los Angeles Clippers outlasted the Golden State Warriors 98-96 on Thursday night to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round series. Arizona Coyotes Jerseys . The Blue Jackets play Thursday night at New Jersey in their first game after the NHLs Olympic hiatus. A native of Trencin, Slovakia, Gaborik has represented his country at the 2006 and 2010 Olympics but was unable to play in Sochi because of his injury. http://www.hockeycoyotesproshop.com/Coyotes-Clayton-Keller-Adidas-Jersey/ . Interestingly, the culprits were not rookies, but well paid, experienced pros. The first gaffe came in the 24th minute of arguably the biggest early season MLS game in history between Seattle and Toronto. Sounder newcomer Marco Pappa, (with over 100 MLS games, and 39 Guatemalan Caps to his name) attempted a back pass to one of his central defenders.AUSTIN, Texas - Race by race and point by point, Lewis Hamilton is tightening his grip on the Formula One world championship and squeezing out Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg.But not so far as to eliminate his rival as a title threat. Not yet.Hamilton won the U.S. Grand Prix on Sunday, moving 24 points clear of Rosberg with just two races left. It was Hamiltons second win in Texas in three years, his 10th on the season and fifth in a row.This whole season has been incredible, Hamilton said after playfully taking former world champion Mario Andrettis black Stetson cowboy hat on the winners podium. I pushed as hard as I could.Mercedes had another 1-2 finish in a dominating season that has pushed Hamilton and Rosberg well clear of the pack in the title chase. Red Bulls Daniel Ricciardo was third for his eighth podium finish on the season.Rosberg could still find a way to steal the title from Hamilton. Formula One moves to Brazil next weekend and the final race in Abu Dhabi will be worth double points in a rule change this season.Full attack, Rosberg said. Well try to be on the pole and win (in Brazil). Theres a lot of points to be had.Hamilton said aggressive driving got him this far and he wont try to dial it back over the final two races.Were hunting for those points. So far, Ive done what Ive needed to do. I should continue to do the same, Hamilton said.Hamiltons victory also was career win No. 32, which passed Nigel Mansell for the most Formula One victories by a British driver. Hamilton won the world title in 2008 with McLaren.The Mercedes drivers have waged a season-long duel for the title, a tense back-and-forth that has strained their long friendship, and Sundays race was more of the same.Rosberg started from pole position and Hamilton chased him for 23 laps, steadily keeping up the pressure and slowing gaining on him. Hamilton finally made his move on lap 24, squeezing inside Rosbergs left on the tight 12th turn out of the long straightaway.It was the same spot and a similar move to Hamiltons pass of Red Bulls Sebastian Vettel that propelled him to the victory here in 2012.There wasnt a place in the race where I didnt think I would catchh him, Hamilton said. Justin Peters Jersey. Its such a great feeling to have a race like that.Dropped into second, Rosberg couldnt keep up and Hamilton put more time between their cars with every lap. Hamilton had the more muscular car through the weeks practice sessions, but lost the pole position because of braking problems that dogged his session.After taking the lead, Hamilton quickly built a gap of more than 2.5 seconds. Rosberg tried to claw back but didnt have enough race left to do it. By the final laps, the biggest challenge for Hamilton was not getting caught up or wrecked by other drivers battling for final position.I knew there was a chance he would try. I went halfway defensive, on the pass, Rosberg said. Later I started to find better rhythm, but it was just way too late.Vettel, the defending race and world champion, started from pit lane after incurring a penalty for using his sixth engine of the season. He fought all the way back to finish seventh.Vettel has been surpassed within Red Bull this season by Ricciardo, who has won three times. Vettel is leaving Red Bull at the end of the season, but has yet to confirm where hell drive in 2015.Ricciardo was pleased to get another podium finish.As we know Mercedes is a bit out of reach so third, I think third is the best we could do today, Ricciardo said.The race started with just 18 cars, the smallest field in nearly a decade after financial problems forced teams Marussia and Caterham to drop out.Saturdays practice and qualifying was dominated by speculation that three more struggling teams, Lotus, Sauber and Sahara Force India, could stage a protest by either boycotting the race or pulling out after one lap. Neither threat materialized.The race went under safety car on the first lap when Force Indias Sergio Perez collided with Saubers Adrian Sutil, knocking both drivers out. The crash was a major blow for Sauber, which hoped to capitalize on Sutils first top-10 qualifying position of the season.He completely hit me. He ruined the race and I had to stop. My car was completely broken, Sutil said.Force India then lost its second car when Nico Hulkenberg retired in the 17th lap. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '