CLEVELAND - With just over a minute remaining in a three-point contest, Kyrie Irving, Clevelands lethal late-game weapon, barrelled into the lane as Kyle Lowry stood in his way, positioned above the restricted area. Mired in an offensive slump, Lowry - the NBAs leader in taking charges this season - did what he has learned to do best, standing his ground and drawing a crucial offensive foul on the Cavaliers all-star point guard. Fast forward 30 seconds to the Cavs next possession, with the home team still trailing by three, Spencer Hawes - one of the leagues best passing big men - threw an interception, intended for Tyler Zeller and picked off by DeMar DeRozan. The Raptors two best players, their two leading scorers, made the two most important plays of Tuesdays 99-93 win over Cleveland. That much is not unusual. Of note though is both of those plays came on the defensive end. "Those defensive plays are deflation plays for the opposition," said Lowry, who struggled with his shot, hitting just three of 15 attempts from the field and misfiring on all nine of his jumpers from three-point range. "Its definitely fun to step up for the team in those situations." Lowry didnt think twice when faced with a split-second decision, one hes made time and time again in high-pressure situations during his breakout campaign. "Those are winning plays," he said, asked about the art of drawing a charge, crediting the tutelage of former teammate Shane Battier, whom he called "one of the best charge takers" in the league. DeRozans steal was just as vital, if not more so, to the teams sixth win in the last seven games and second over Cleveland in a span of five days. "He was like a free safety out there," Lowry said, shortly before DeRozan - in conversation with the media - made yet another reference to Seahawks cornerback and fellow Compton-native Richard Sherman. "I kind of anticipated it, I read the play a little bit," said DeRozan, who also made his share of big offensive plays, scoring 16 of his game-high 33 points in the fourth quarter, adding six assists without turning the ball over. "They ran it earlier in the game. I knew they were going to look for it and I just went for it." Toronto, and DeRozan in particular, has come up short when faced with one final possession, one final shot in the past. Both guards heeded their coachs direction this time around. It didnt come down to a last-second heave. The Raptors won with timely defence. After enjoying a much-improved first quarter following a series of slow starts, the Raptors struggled on both ends of the floor during the meat of the game. Nothing was falling for Lowry - a 39 per cent three-point shooter on the season - and the team was accumulating sloppy turnovers at an uncharacteristically alarming rate for the second straight contest. Almost foreshadowing the nights eventual result, Casey was asked how to prevent his team from allowing its offence to dictate defensive effort prior to the game. "I havent discovered it yet in my 30 years of coaching," he responded. "Its the same in college, [in the] pros and its been that way for a long time. A lot of guys have to see the ball go through the basket to get themselves going on the other end, which you dont want, you preach against but I think its human nature." For at least one night, his team and his point guard bucked that trend. "That was one example of a guy not letting his offence dictate his defence," Casey said of Lowry, who also added nine assists, made all seven of his free-throw attempts and could have drawn a couple more charges if not for a pair of close calls that didnt go his way. "Thats how you have to play," Lowry added. "Youre not going to have great games all the time. Youre not going to shoot 10-for-12 every night or 20-for-30. Youre always going to have some sort of off game but you cant let that stop you from helping your team win a game." Terrence Ross bailed him out offensively, scoring what DeRozan called a "quiet 19 points", knocking down five of his eight shots from long distance. With the win, the Raptors climb seven games above the .500 mark for the first time in six years. It ensures theyll have a winning record for a third consecutive month, accomplishing that feat for the first time since 2007. Cheap Jerseys USA . LOUIS -- Known for his game-managing and defensive skills, Yadier Molina made another statement with his bat. Wholesale Jerseys Online . Vettel only needs to finish fifth or better Sunday to wrap up the championship with three races remaining, and bettered his own lap record to claim his third straight pole at Buddh International Circuit. http://www.onlinejerseyscheap.com/.J. Ward appeared in court Friday on misdemeanour charges that he threw a glass mug at a bartender at a Denver strip club. Cheap NFL Jerseys Free Shipping .NYCFC confirmed to The Associated Press on Saturday that this week Lampard signed a contract to start in July — midway through the new teams first season in MLS. Nike NFL Jerseys Wholesale . -- Jake Peavy arrived at Bostons spring training complex on Monday with a large white bandage covering his left index finger, the result of a weekend accident.(SportsNetwork.com) - Having lost consecutive starts for the first time this season, Toronto hurler Mark Buehrle watched on Tuesday as New York rookie sensation Masahiro Tanaka passed him for the major league lead in victories. Buehrle will now try to join Tanaka in the 11-win club on Wednesday and even the Blue Jays three-game series with the AL East-rival Yankees. The resurgent Buehrle picked up his 10th win of the season on June 1, but followed up with a tough-luck 5-0 setback to St. Louis six days later as he was charged with just one run over seven innings. The lefty then struggled a bit in a 4-2 setback to Baltimore on Thursday, allowing four runs on eight hits and a walk in 6 1/3 frames. The loss dropped Buehrle to 10-3 on the year with a 2.28 earned run average. "There were times I made a lot of mistakes, and they made me pay for them," Buehrle told Torontos official website, "and then I made a few good pitches, and they put the ball in play and got some base hits." Buehrle will need to avoid the mistakes tonight given his history with the Yankees. The 35-year-old has made 16 prior starts against them, going a mere 1-10 with a 6.02 ERA. Tanaka secured his major league-leading 11th victory with last nights 3-1 victory, settling down from allowing a solo homer to Jose Reyes on the games first pitch to shut down the Blue Jays for the rest of his six-inning performance. Tanaka struck out 10 batters and moved in line for the victory following Brett Gardners two-run homer off Toronto hurler Marcus Stroman in the third inning. Tanaka lowered his ERA to an AL-best 1.99 and he is second in the league with 113 strikeouts. "What hes done is remarkable," said Yankees manager Joe Girardi of Tanaka. "He has been a big part of our success this year and continues to grind out starts, make adjustments and give us distance. He wins." Derek Jetter and Kelly Johnson each had two hits and a run scored to help New York halt a two-game skid with its fifth victory in seven games.dddddddddddd The Yankees also moved to within 3 1/2 games of the Blue Jays for first place in the AL East. With Tanaka leading the charge, Toronto hitters fanned a total of 15 times on the evening en route to their 14th consecutive defeat at Yankee Stadium, the longest active streak by one team at a particular venue. Stroman allowed just two runs, but lasted only 3 2/3 innings while throwing 98 pitches in Torontos seventh loss in 10 games. "We had some good at-bats, we hit some balls hard early on, and then it just disappeared," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons remarked. "(Tanaka) pretty much shut us down. But hes good. Theres a reason hes doing what hes doing." New Yorks 14-game home winning streak over the Jays is the longest by one team over another since Toronto topped Baltimore 16 straight times at Rogers Centre from 2009-11. The Yankees hope to extend that run tonight behind Chase Whitley, who takes the mound four days after his 25th birthday. Whitley opened his major league career with four straight no-decisions, failing to pitch longer than five innings in any of those outings. However, the righty has improved on that in back-to-back wins, logging seven frames to beat Kansas City on June 6 before pitching 7 2/3 innings in a 6-3 win over Seattle on Thursday. Whitley held the Mariners to a pair of runs on five hits while striking out six to zero walks, giving him a 2.41 ERA heading into his first ever meeting with the Blue Jays. Toronto is expected to have center fielder Colby Rasmus back in the lineup tonight for the first time since May 12 as he returns from a strained right hamstring. Rasmus, hitting .222 with nine homers and 19 RBI in 37 games, made his sixth and final rehab appearance on Tuesday with Triple-A Buffalo. ' ' '