ch Dwane Casey

TORONTO -- Nick Young and the Los Angeles Lakers got the Toronto Raptors to play it their way Sunday afternoon. Bo Jackson Jersey . Young had 29 points while Pau Gasol added 22 to lead the short-handed Lakers to a 112-106 win at the Air Canada Centre, halting Torontos six-game home win streak. Los Angeles (16-25) used an attacking style to rally from deficits of 19 and 17 points and earn its second straight road victory but just its third in 15 games overall. "We didnt get defence into the game," Toronto coach Dwane Casey said. "We played their game . . . it was pretty but we didnt get defence into the game. "That allowed those big runs and thats not who we are. We have to be a defence-first team, not a three-point shooting team . . . we got caught up in their quick threes, which were not very good at." The Lakers hit 12-of-22 (54.5 per cent) three-pointers but also made 26-of-28 free throws. Toronto finished 9 of 30 (30 per cent) from beyond the arc and held a 47-31 edge in rebounding but only attempted 11 free throws, making nine. "That tells us either were not getting the calls or were not driving to the rim," Casey said. "They were the aggressor going to the basket. We had some bonehead fouls on some three-point shots, thats something you shouldnt do. "But it starts on the defensive end. We didnt get up into people and when we did react we reacted late and subsequently you get fouls called." DeMar DeRozan had 23 points while Kyle Lowry added 21 for Toronto (20-19), which lost the chance for its first-ever season sweep of the Lakers. The Raptors won the first meeting 106-94 on Dec. 8. Kyle Lowry added 21 points for Toronto while Patrick Patterson added 17 points coming off the bench. Lowrys three-pointer pulled Toronto to within 102-101 with just over two minutes remaining. Ryan Kellys three free throws made it 105-101 before Youngs three-pointer put the Lakers ahead 108-103 with 1:15 left. Youngs two free throws with 20.5 seconds made it 110-104 and effectively cemented the win. Kelly said Young was a difference-maker for the Lakers. "The one thing Nick does is score, especially at the end of clocks," said Kelly, who finished with 17 points. "There are not many people in the league who can do what he does. "We have seven seconds on the clock and you get Nick the ball and he finds a way to get a shot or get to the line . . . we need that." The Lakers were without all-stars Steve Nash of Victoria and Kobe Bryant. Nash, a two-time NBA MVP, is out with a back injury while Bryant, a five-time league champion and Los Angeless all-time scoring leader, is sidelined with a fractured left knee. "After not feeling it in the first half, we just got a bit more aggressive on defence and they felt us," Lakers coach Mike DAntoni said. "You have to give them credit, they hit a lot of good shots to start with but our guys somehow found the resolve to stay into them and it worked out." The Lakers improved to 27-8 all-time against Toronto, including 13-5 at the ACC. "Weve got to understand no matter now big the lead is no team is going to lay down," DeRozan said. "Theyre going to play extremely hard to try and get back and weve got to understand that and withstand the runs theyre trying to make. We didnt do that. "We gave up too many threes. We know theyre a three-point shooting team and we left them in their comfort zone and they knocked them down." Lowery couldnt hide his disappointment about Torontos inability to twice put the Lakers away after surging into commanding double-digit leads. "Yeah, it sucks," he said. "They did a good job of playing the way they wanted and making us play that way also. "They attacked us a lot more. We settled for a lot more jumpshots and we didnt attack as much as we couldve to get to the free-throw line as much as they did." L.A. took an 82-81 lead into the fourth, thanks to three Young free throws with 27.3 seconds left. Young converted a technical on Terrence Ross, then hit two-of-three from the line after being fouled by Ross on a three-point shot. The resilient Lakers overcame a 17-point deficit to take the lead. Toronto opened the third on a 14-2 run to go ahead 73-56 but the Lakers tied it 79-79 on Manny Harriss three-pointer with under three minutes remaining after both Kendall Marshall and Young connected from beyond the arc. Gasols two free throws with 3.4 seconds remaining cut Torontos half-time advantage to 58-54. The Raptors surged into a commanding 50-31 lead in the quarter before being outscored by the Lakers 23-8 the rest of the way. DeRozan was a one-man show for Toronto, scoring 12 of his 16 first-half points in the second. The Raptors were 5 of 16 (31.3 per cent) from three-point range in the half while L.A. was 6-of-10. Toronto led 36-29 after the first, erasing a 24-20 deficit by outscoring L.A. 16-5 over the final 2:58. Patterson led the way for the Raptors with eight points, including two three-pointers as the home team hit on 14-of-19 field goals and 5-of-6 three-pointers in the quarter. Gasol played a big part in leading the Lakers to their early lead with 10 points. NOTES -- Toronto is off to Charlotte for a game Monday afternoon against the Bobcats on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the U.S. while Los Angeles continues a seven-game road trip in Chicago on Tuesday night . . . Torontos 94-89 home win over Minnesota on Friday night was its 20th victory in 38 games this year, the fastest the Raptors have reached 20 wins since 2007-08 when they did so in 37 games . . . Toronto forward Tyler Hansbrough (ankle) missed his ninth straight game while forward John Salmons, who reportedly suffered a back injury against Minnesota, didnt dress . . . Lakers centre Robert Sacre is a native of Baton Rouge, La., but grew up in B.C. and has dual Canadian-American citizenship. Royals Jersey . Madrid lost Cristiano Ronaldo to injury early in the match and failed to create any clear scoring chances after the Portugal forwards exit. His team now trails city and Champions League final rival Atletico Madrid by four points with two games to play. Justin Maxwell Jersey . This week, topics cover if and when the Blue Jays should start rebuilding, how good catchers handle a pitching staff and how best to develop young pitchers to best avoid arm problems. NEW YORK -- Jonathan Quick watched plenty of New York Rangers games on television while growing up in nearby Milford, Conn., but it was always a tough ticket to get into Madison Square Garden. Just once before he got on the ice at the age of 12 for an intermission pee-wee shootout, and then Monday night at the age of 28 the Los Angeles Kings goaltender made a much more memorable appearance. Quick shut out the Rangers 3-0 to put his team up three games to none in the Stanley Cup final and one victory away from a second title in three years. "You make one save and then you try to make the next," Quick said with little excitement in his voice after arguably his best performance in these playoffs. "We had a lot of guys that block shots, clear rebounds. Our (penalty kill) was very good tonight, possibly the difference in the game. You just make one save at a time and try to get ready for the next one." Of Quicks 32 saves, two of them stuck out. In the first period he got his stick on a shot by Mats Zuccarello that went off the post and was bound to deflect in, and in the second he extended his paddle to get a piece of Derick Brassards offering that couldve been just what the Rangers needed to get back into the game and perhaps the series. Quick couldnt remember what happened on either one. It was hard for anyone else to forget. "Hes one goalie that can save those kind of things," Kings defenceman Drew Doughty said. "Not to say that we expect those saves from him, but were so used to seeing them because they happen so often that its just normal business." After watching Quick win the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP during Los Angeless 2012 Cup run, Dustin Brown isnt even in awe anymore. The Kings captain used to look up at the video board to figure out just how the puck stayed out of the net, but now he doesnt even bother. "The best example is playing at the Olympics and seeing other guys react to it and Im just sitting there because Ive played with him long enough and hes made enough of those saves you kind of expect him to do it," Brown said. "Its not shocking by any means. Hes been doing this all playoffs." Quick hadnt been doing quite this in these playoffs. Monday night was just his second shutout in 24 games this post-season, but it was the ninth of his NHL career. His stats during this run -- a 2.80 goals-against average and .906 save percentage going into Monday -- were hardly dazzling, but teammates were eager to give him credit for what had transpired before his masterful Game 3 showing. "All I know is everyones talking about Quickie and hes a big, big part of the reason were here because he is a goaltender that makes big saves at big times," Brown said. Quick did need some help and got it with goals from Jeff Carter, Jake Muzzin and Mike Richards. Carters goal with 0.7 seconds left in the first period stunned the sellout crowd of 18,000-plus in the first Cup final game at the Garden in 20 years. Carters seemingly innocent flick of a shot deflected off the skate of diving Rangers defenceman Dan Girardi before going in off Henrik Lundqvists glove. "I was reacting low and it went high," Lundqvist said. "Its just one of those plays where, with a little luck there that puck ends up in the netting or the glass. Unfortunately, half a second left and it ended up in our net. It was a tough play." That goal marked the first lead for the Kings since Game 6 of the Western Conference final against the Chicago Blackhawks. Los Angeles came back from two-goal deficits to win Games 1 and 2 at Staples Center. "It was a little bit easier scoring first, obviously," centre Anze Kopitar said. "Scoring at 0.7 left the first takes a little bit of wind out of their sails and energizes us." A rash of high-sticking penalties by the Rangers early in the second period didnt help, and Marc Staals led to Muzzins power-play goal. With Martin St. Louis trying to get his body in front of Muzzins shot from the point, the puck instead went off the Rangers winger and past Lundqvist 4:17 into the second period. Fans tried to generate some noise off the face-off, and the Rangers followed with plenty of chances to get back into the game. The power-play unit that entered the night 1-for-8 in the series managed some sustained pressure but came up empty thanks to Quicks brilliance. New York finished 0-for-6 on the power play in Game 3. Asked what went wrong in general, coach Alain Vigneault answered only: "We couldnt score." When Lundqvist was asked what happened, the usually charming media darling fired back: "Better question." What happened in the second period was the Rangers fell behind 3-0 as Richards got a two-on-one with Trevor Lewis, banked his initial shot off Ryan McDonagh and buried his second to put the Kings in cruise control. Despite 15 multi-goal comebacks already in these playoffs, an NHL record, a three-goal deeficit looked daunting even as the Rangers out-shot the Kings 32-15 overall because Quick appeared unbeatable.Yordano Ventura Royals Jersey. Ultimately, he was. "He was obviously the best player on the ice tonight," Vigneault said of Quick. "Give them credit. They found a way to put the puck past our real good goaltender and we couldnt do it." Marian Gaborik, playing his first game back at the Garden since the Rangers traded him to the Columbus Blue Jackets at the 2013 deadline, called Quick the Kings "cornerstone" Monday night. Doughty termed him their "backbone" all the time. Monday night was a reminder of that to anyone who forgot how good Quick can be at his best. "I dont think he has to remind us too many times," Kopitar said. "We know what hes capable of. Thats why we love having him back there." Twice in Game 3 he made saves that earn him that kind of love and admiration and a place on highlight reels. At the 12:37 mark of the first, Zuccarello had a no-doubt goal from just in front, but his shot hit the post and then Quicks before going wide. "It was an empty-net goal, and he got a piece of it," Brown said. "That allowed us to get our legs going and not fall behind early." Quicks most spectacular of the night came 10:22 into the second on Brassards offering from the side of the net. A cross ice pass forced Quick to go full extension, and with his paddle almost parallel to the ice he kept it out. "It looked from the bench like the guy just missed it, but you look at the replay and he gets a piece of it," Brown said. "He has a different style than all the other goalies in the league. Hes just quick and he gets post-to-post faster than any goalie in the whole entire league." Now one victory away from a second championship in three years, Quick isnt a strong Conn Smythe candidate this time around. But in dominating against the Rangers on Monday night, he put the Kings on the verge of recapturing the trophy they really care about. "Hes still been very sharp for us and hes been a huge key for our success without a doubt," Doughty said. "Maybe he didnt have to stand on his head like he did in 2012 but tonight I thought he stood on his head." NOTES -- Neither team made any lineup changes from Game 2, which meant that Kings defenceman Robyn Regehr missed his 16th straight game with injury. David LeNevu again served as the Rangers backup goalie with Cam Talbot (undisclosed) still out. ... A handful of celebrities were featured on the arenas video screens, including New York Knicks forward Amare Stoudemire, late-night TV host Jimmy Fallon and actors Bryan Cranston and Robert De Niro. That dampened the enthusiasm of a crowd that included more than a few people who paid a premium to attend. Tickets on the secondary market were going for over US$1,000. As their realistic chances of making it a series hung in the balance, the Rangers didnt put together a season-saving performance. After falling behind, New York picked up two straight high-sticking penalties that could have been worse had defenceman Marc Staal not gotten away with an extra one on Kings captain Dustin Brown. Staals offensive-zone high-sticking penalty that did get called led to the Kings second goal of the night. With Martin St. Louis trying to get his body in front of Muzzins shot from the point, the puck instead went off the Rangers winger and past Lundqvist 4:17 into the second period. Fans tried to generate some noise off the face-off, and the Rangers followed with plenty of chances to get back into the game. The power-play unit that entered the night 1-for-8 in the series managed some sustained pressure but came up empty thanks to Quicks brilliance. The 2012 Conn Smythe Trophy winners best save of Game 3 came just after a New York power play expired, when he got his stick on what should have been a gimme goal for Derick Brassard at the side of the net. While Quick made saves look easy, Lundqvist got a break. The Kings didnt manage a shot on net for more than nine minutes in the second period. When they got back on track, it didnt take long to suck the rest of the air out of the Garden. With Trevor Lewis accompanying him on a two-on-one rush, Richards took an initial shot that hit Rangers defenceman Ryan McDonagh, and the Kings forward buried the second offering to make it 3-0 at 17:14. A record 15 multi-goal comebacks have meant no lead is safe in these playoffs. But Quicks stellar play ensured this would not be the 16th. NOTES -- Neither team made any lineup changes from Game 2, which meant that Kings defenceman Robyn Regehr missed his 16th straight game with injury. David LeNevu again served as the Rangers backup goalie with Cam Talbot (undisclosed) still out. ... A handful of celebrities were featured on the arenas video screens, including New York Knicks forward Amare Stoudemire, late-night TV host Jimmy Fallon and actors Bryan Cranston and Robert De Niro. ' ' '