he said. "I didnt like the way we played the first two periods. I felt lik

TORONTO - Kelly Olynyk was calm, cool and collected in his first NBA game at the Air Canada Centre. He let his game do the talking. Standing in front of a Celtics backdrop with his trademark locks and quiet confidence less than an hour before Wednesdays preseason game, Olynyk downplayed a night he had been dreaming about for some time. "Its something you dream about when youre a kid," said Bostons 22-year-old rookie, "especially growing up in Toronto, being born and raised in Toronto here." The Toronto native, who relocated to Kamloops, B.C. as a teenager, played well beyond his years just six exhibition games into his promising NBA career. "It was special," he admitted after scoring 13 points and adding nine boards in a 99-97 preseason loss to the Raptors. "It felt good to get out on the court I grew up watching and grew up idolizing. I got into the game pretty quick." Son of a former coach - his mother also immersed in the game as an official scorer with the Raptors for nine years - Olynyk proved to be ahead of the curve as a rookie and justified the praise hes been getting for his high basketball IQ. "Hes got a lot of ability," Celtics rookie head coach Brad Stevens said of Olynyk. "His mind allows him to play the game at a really high level and then his physical skill is very good." Trailing by as many as 13 points in the first quarter, Olynyk helped Boston fight back in the second, getting the best of fellow Gonzaga alum Austin Daye with a devastating combination of size, strength and pristine footwork around the basket. The Celtics rookie fuelled a 13-1 Boston run with nine points and four rebounds during that stretch, giving his team a four-point lead and chasing Daye, who would go on to foul out in 10 minutes, from the game. Selected by the Mavericks with the 13th-pick and immediately traded to Boston in this summers draft, Olynyk impressed in the Orlando Summer League and continues to surprise people, providing a rebuilding Celtics team with hope for the future. "I probably had a better feel for Kelly than most NBA coaches because I coached against him [in college]," said Stevens, the former Butler head coach. "But hes better than I thought he was when we played against him." "I love him," Raptors coach Dwane Casey said of Olynyk, admitting the former Bulldog may have been overlooked prior to the draft. "I think his basketball IQ is off the charts. Hes [an] inside-outside player, probably just as much outside now as he is inside." "I like his hairdo," Casey joked. "His future is going to be really, really bright in the NBA." An opportunity for the Raptors reserves to prove themselves Once again the Raptors starters were effective out of the gate, getting Toronto off to a quick 20-9 lead. Kyle Lowry and Rudy Gay both enjoyed their best and most efficient quarter of the preseason on both ends of the floor. Lowry led the team with 11 points in the period, three of them coming from the line, and his four field goals (on five attempts) were all layups, most coming in transition. Gay added 10 points and also attacked the basket and created fast-break opportunities with good defence. Gay and Lowry, along with Amir Johnson, played the entire first quarter before getting the rest of the night off. DeMar DeRozan played the opening period and the first 1:17 of the second before joining them. "We wanted to make sure we got younger guys some run," Casey said of his decision to give second-unit players and sophomore Jonas Valanciunas the bulk of the minutes Wednesday. "I have a good feel for what they can do," he said of his first unit. "Believe me, were nowhere near where we need to be as a whole entire team. It wasnt any disrespect to Boston but we need to find out what our second unit can do. We need to find out what they can do and the only way we can do that is [giving] them minutes on the court. Whether we win, lose or draw, that wasnt important." After the second-quarter collapse, Torontos reserves, led by Terrence Ross and Landry Fields, created some breathing space with a strong third-quarter performance. The Raptors third-stringers held on in the fourth despite a missed, uncontested dunk by Julyan Stone that could have sealed the victory in the dying seconds. Ross shines Ross was quiet, verging on unnoticeable for the first six minutes he was in the game, as Boston went on its second-quarter run, but caught fire in a hurry. The second-year guard raked in 11 points in the final 4:46 of the first half and continued his strong play in the third quarter. "He was engaged, he was bouncy," Casey said of Ross, who finished with 19 points and three rebounds. "Im not just looking for points from Terrence Im looking for him to make [good] decisions with the ball and definitely [work] on the defensive end. The points are gravy." Ross, like Lowry and Gay in the first quarter, benefited from opportunistic defence as he was able to get out on the break and dazzle the home crowd with his usual brand of aerial acrobatics. "Im just focused on defensive," he said after the game. "Offence will come, they always tell me that. Thats not what Im really worried about Im just trying to go out there and try to make an impression on defence." "The way Im looking at it is defence leads to offence." Fields excels as point forward Without consistent production from the point guard position coming off Torontos bench, Fields has proven to be a valuable member of the second unit with his ability to handle the ball and initiate the offence in transition. "He did a heck of job running the show," Casey said of Fields, who added 14 points and seven rebounds in 17 minutes off the bench. "He made some shots which we really dont need from him but it helped us in that situation until we get a grove, a rhythm with that second unit offensively." Casey is still searching for consistency from his bench, hence the increased playing time, and until he finds it we should expect to see much of the same in terms of the rotation over Torontos final three preseason games. "Nobodys really differentiating [themselves]," he said of his second unit. "Were looking for cohesiveness [and for] who can possibly step in with the first unit if something happened. So nobodys really emerged." "With that said we still have to develop an offensive identity, whether its multiple pick and rolls, set plays, how we want to live with that second group. We kind of know what we want to do with the first group." Up Next The Raptors will hit the gym for some much-needed practice time this weekend before hosting Andrea Bargnani and the New York Knicks in a rematch of last weeks victory on Monday evening. Shake Milton Jersey .com) - The Toronto Maple Leafs will try to play spoiler as the Los Angeles Kings will try to match their longest winning streak in over four years in Thursdays battle at Staples Center. Custom Philadelphia 76ers Jerseys . His Chicago Blackhawks teammates werent shocked when he found it. Kanes career has been defined by his brilliance in the Blackhawks biggest moments, and his tiebreaking goal with 3:45 to play in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals will rank among the best. http://www.76ersstore.com/kids-zhaire-smith-76ers-jersey/ . Reyes, 26, was traded from Atlanta to Toronto in July 2010 and spent the remainder of the season in the minors. He began 2011 in the majors and made 20 starts with the Blue Jays, going 5-8 with a 5.40 earned run average before he was waived on Aug. Ben Simmons Jersey . -- Mississippis Andrew Ritter said his game-winning, 41-yard field goal felt good off his foot. JJ Redick Jersey . -- The road to the Masters got off to a bumpy start Sunday for Tiger Woods when he withdrew from the Honda Classic with what he said was a lower back injury.ST. JOHNS, N.L. -- Jerome Samson said the IceCaps only played 20 good minutes of hockey. He needed just two of those minutes to win the game. Samson tied the game with a goal then won it with another in overtime as the St. Johns IceCaps beat the Worcester Sharks 3-2 in American Hockey League action Wednesday. "We had a slow start and a slow second period too," Samson said. "But, I think we came around. We got the win and its not always going to be pretty. "Some nights you dont deserve the two points and you get them. Tonight we played only 20 minutes and (managed) to get the two points." Samson tied the game at two with 1:45 left in regulation on a short-handed goal. With Andrew Gordon serving an interference penalty, Samson streaked down the wing, had his first shot saved and then scored on the ensuing wraparound. "I went around the defenceman, and my first thought was to shoot the puck as soon as I was out in a shooting lane," Samson said. "The goalie played it well, he stepped out on me and was kind of reaching for the puck so I didnt want to give it away. I ended up wrapping around and just banked it in." Then just 26 seconds into overtime Samson gathered the puck in front of Sharks goaltender Troy Grosenick and buried a low wrist shot to win the game for thee IceCaps.dddddddddddd IceCaps head coach Keith McCambridge was happy with the result, but couldnt say the same about his teams play. "We had a bit of a reward there with being able to pull that game out," he said. "I didnt like the way we played the first two periods. I felt like we were late everywhere and that happens when youre not skating enough." Andrew Gordon also scored for the IceCaps (6-7-1), while Eddie Pasquale stopped 23 shots. Rylan Schwartz and Daniil Tarasov replied for the Sharks (3-7-0), and Grosenick finished with 27 saves. The Sharks opened the scoring 2:03 into the first period after the IceCaps turned over the puck to Schwartz, who finished a short-handed breakaway chance. "Any time you have a short-handed goal against, the momentum really drops from your game," McCambridge said. "It was tough to get traction again after that short-handed goal. But, as the game wore on, especially the third, we played at the level we needed to." Tarasov doubled the lead for the Sharks at the 13:02 mark of the second, putting home a rebound at the side of the net on the power play. Gordon put St. Johns on the board with 14:37 left in the third on a tap-in from the edge of the crease, setting up Samsons pair of goals to complete St. Johns rally. ' ' '