Music: {allcanada} RAPTORS SEEK GAME 5 BREAKTHROUGH AGAINST NETS ON TSN, TSN GO

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

{allcanada} RAPTORS SEEK GAME 5 BREAKTHROUGH AGAINST NETS ON TSN, TSN GO

TORONTO - For the better part of their opening-round bout with Brooklyn, the Raptors have had their backs up against the wall, not that they've minded.

By now, you've undoubtedly heard about how this team tends to come together with the odds stacked up against them. It's made them the loveable underdogs who've captured the attention of a city and a country they call home. It's also the most rational explanation for why they're still playing basketball into the month of May.

Fighting for their playoff lives once again, they evened the series with a gritty, character building late-game performance on enemy soil and, as a result, they find themselves in a position to do something they haven't done in nearly 13 years.

With home-court advantage back on their side, the Raptors - who have not led a playoff series since 2001 - can finally take control of their own destiny when they host the Nets in a pivotal Game 5 clash Wednesday at 7:30 PM.

You can catch all the action live on TSN, TSN GO and TSN Radio 1050 with coverage getting underway at 7pm et/4pm pt. TSN.ca will provide in-game highlights, live streaming of the fans in Maple Leaf Square and the post-game news conferences.

Jim Tatti, Duane Watson and Josh Lewenberg have the pre-game show starting at 7pm et, followed by Paul Jones and Sherman Hamilton calling all the action on TSN Radio 1050. Tatti, Watson, Lewenberg and Gareth Wheeler are back after the final buzzer with a full hour of complete post-game analysis.

"Just because we're home, [it] doesn't remedy anything," cautioned coach Dwane Casey after a Tuesday afternoon practice session. "The other night, we were down 2-1, our backs were against the wall [and] we came out appropriately. That's the same approach we've got to have [Wednesday] night."

"It's not going to be all smiles and bubblegum and fruitcakes [Wednesday] night. It's going to be a street fight, and that's the way we've got to come out, with that mentality."

Toronto held the Nets scoreless over the final 4:58 of the fourth quarter Sunday, becoming the first team to accomplish that feat at the end of a playoff game since 1998.

"We should compete like that, not just for the last six minutes, we've got to compete like that for 40-plus [minutes]," Casey added. "It's unrealistic to do it for 48, but 40-plus [minutes]."

On par with one of their best regular season traits, the Raptors have topped the Nets by 20 points in the final quarter, despite being outscored by 23 in the third. Through four games, Toronto has totalled just two more points than its foes from Brooklyn. The series has been dead even, not unlike their four meetings during the season.

At some point, if they're going to take the series and move on to face the Miami Heat, who are waiting on an opponent after sweeping the Charlotte Bobcats, the Raptors must tip the scale in their direction.

"We're coming closer and closer to the end of the series," said DeMar DeRozan, leading the team in scoring and averaging 24.5 points in the postseason. "It's the first team to win two now. We've got to understand that we can't drop a game. It's either win or go home. We've got to keep that mentality [in the] next game [and] play like we did when we were down."

DeRozan, the league-leader in free throws made and attempted in the playoffs, has continued to grow on basketball's biggest stage, following a slow start to his postseason career. After turning in back-to-back 30-point outings, the Raptors All-Star guard made a pair of game-changing defensive plays in crunch time on Sunday.

His team hasn't cowered to the veteran-laden Nets and inexperience, at least for DeRozan, no longer appears to be a deterrent.

"It's just who wants it more from here on out," he said. "That's just what it boils down to, who wants it more."

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