WASHINGTON - Fresh off his first All-Star Game appearance, DeMar DeRozan - heading into uncharted waters as the Raptors ready for a rare playoff push - addressed his teammates following Tuesday morning shoot around. "Each and every single game matters from here on out, especially if we want to do something special," he told them, as the third-seeded Raptors prepared to begin the unofficial second half of their season against the sixth place Washington Wizards. "We cant take [any] nights off," he stressed. "These 30 games are going to be big and weve got to start tonight." Message received, at least in the first of those final 30 games. It took just over four minutes for all five Raptors starters to get on the board. In the end, six players scored in double figures and the teams bench totaled 43 points on an impressive 18-for-26 shooting, as Toronto came away with a 103-93 win, its third in three games against the Wizards this season. "Thats whats great about our team, everybody understands their role and thats real big," said DeRozan, who had a quiet night by his recent standards, scoring 14 points. "We have anybody that can [step up], it can be anybody. If one guys not playing well, somebody else always picks it up." DeRozans uplifting words were not a surprise to Dwane Casey. The Raptors leading scorer had told his coach that he intended to make the speech on the flight to Washington the day prior. "[I] sat with him and talked about the second half of the season, what to expect, and he said he was going to do that," Casey said. "We talked [Monday] night as a team, talked about the next 30 games, what to expect as a team. Now weve got to follow it up with action. Every team coming out is going to be gunning for him - hes achieved All-Star status - and us as a team, were in the playoff hunt. So weve got to meet those expectations." As a team, the Raptors were expectedly rusty early on, specifically on defence. Washington scored 27 first-quarter points, shooting 57 per cent in the frame, while Wizards All-Star John Wall had 11, matching his game total from the Raptors last visit to Verizon Center, Torontos 101-88 win to begin the month of January. "Its always tough to find a rhythm when youre coming off the All-Star break," said Kyle Lowry, who vacationed in an undisclosed location this past weekend after being passed up for the All-Star Game. "Its always tough but we figured it out in the second half and third quarter, for me especially to get going a little bit." In a matchup between two of the best point guards in the Eastern Conference - arguably the two best - Lowry connected on just two of his eight first-half attempts, scoring six points as Wall exploded for 19, making nine of 12 shots. The Raptors lead guard came out of intermission looking like a man on a mission, scoring 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting in the third, draining long jumpers, getting into the paint at will and knocking down a series of tricky step backs. Lowry finished with a double-double, leading his team with 24 points and 10 assists and Wall was held to three points, without a single field goal, in the second half. "I was trying to attack a little bit more," Lowry, the scorned should-be-All-Star, said of his third-quarter clinic. "That first game out of the break is always tough and I didnt want to let that be an excuse for us to lose this game." "He took the game over in the third quarter and willed us to a win," Casey said of his point guard. "Just his aggressiveness. He attacked their feet, didnt settle for the three, got into the paint and kept attacking." The Raptors recorded 25 assists, 17 from their point guards - Lowry and Greivis Vasquez - and shot 57 per cent on the night, holding Washington, one of the better three-point shooting teams, to 4-of-15 from beyond the arch. Although it looked like it was going to be smooth sailing for Toronto in the third quarter, leading by as much as 20, things got interesting down the stretch when Washington turned up its defensive intensity and the Raptors quickly went ice cold. Toronto was held without a field goal in the final 7:35 of the game, as the Wizards cut their deficit to six down but were unable to get any closer. "We just turned the ball over way too many times against their pressure," Casey said after this team committed eight of their 15 miscues in the final frame. "Thats just from rust and time off, timing, speed of the game." The rest seemed to do wonders for the Raptors, winners of their last three games, specifically Amir Johnson, who has had over 10 days off after missing two contests with a sore right ankle. The Raptors forward made his return off the bench, scoring 14 points and grabbing five rebounds in a spirited 25 minutes of action. Patrick Patterson made his third straight start - scoring 10 points in 34 minutes - and should stick with the first unit for the time being as Johnson works his way back to full health, though Casey wouldnt commit to the lineup change. The Raptors will go for the four-game sweep of Washington when the Wizards visit Toronto next week. They are now four games ahead of the Wizards and a game and a half in front of the fourth-place Chicago Bulls, Torontos Wednesday opponent at the Air Canada Centre. "Thats a tough team," Lowry said of the Bulls, who will be well rested having arrived in Toronto Tuesday, getting the night off. "A different type of game tomorrow night. Theyre very defensive-minded. Theyve got a great coach [in Tom Thibodeau] and a very intense team, with Joakim (Noah) their All-Star. He leads the charge so weve got to match his intensity." Vapormax Moc Canada . The 57-year-old Tietjens has coached New Zealand to nine IRB World Sevens titles and to four Commonwealth Games gold medals as its only coach in the professional era. New Zealand Rugby Union chief executive Steve Tew said the re-signing was made with a focus on 2016 when sevens will be in the Olympics. Vapormax Plus Mens Sale . Anderson shook off some unusually poor shooting and hit two clutch 3-pointers in overtime that carried the New Orleans Pelicans to a 111-106 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night. http://www.airvapormaxcanada.com/air-max-plus-tn-canada.html . Although Olivetti, a qualifier, had 13 aces, he failed to force a single break-point chance on Gasquets serve and lost his own three times. 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He has the motor and gives it his all each night and is one of those guys you dont have to run a bunch of plays for and is consistent. He compliments Dwight Howard quite well and has been one of those quiet players who doesnt get lots of publicity yet and does his job effectively in a winning environment. 2. KAWAI LEONARD (Spurs): With Leonard back in the lineup you look at the Spurs experiencing good health and start asking yourself how far they can go. Hes a very good all-around player who they really missed. He guards and rebounds and can make all the shots. With him in the lineup, it seems when I watch this team that everyone is settled again in their roles and they look like a team that is gearing up for another run. Amazing what good health does to the chemistry of a team. 3. KLAY THOMPSON (Warriors): Thomas had a tough game on Sunday in Toronto yet had a wonderful bounce back effort against the Pacers and hit the game winner to compliment his 25 points for the evening. I love his shooting ability and he rebounds pretty well for a 2 guard. He has great size and incredible range and has gotten more coomfortable creating his own shot off the bounce.dddddddddddd Still a bit inconsistent here and there but if he was a stock, Id say buy! His best days are ahead of him. 4. LeBRON JAMES (Heat): Congrats on the 61 points he put up on Monday vs the Bobcats. I was a bit surprised it came against them, theyre a very good defensive team. Honestly, he could get 40+ points every night if he really just focused on that part of his game. Thankfully, hes a top-notch team player and makes all the smart/winning plays. More importantly, I caught his comments about wanting to return to Cleveland for the jersey retirement ceremony for his former teammate, Zydrunas Ilgauskas. It was a class gesture and I hope it happens. Whatever you want to say about his departure from Cleveland and it was poorly handled; he does get it as far as the value of team and his relationships with teammates. He respects the game and respects that everyone is in it together. 5. STEVE NASH (Lakers): I heard the news that its not looking good for his return the remainder of this season. Sad news. You look at the growth of basketball in Canada right now and its a joy to watch. Nash, as we all know, has done so much and will continue to do a great deal for the growth of the sport across the country but its kind of a bittersweet moment in time right now watching the sport explode with so many talented young players yet watching such a great player and proud man at the end of his career. It ends for everyone at some point and fingers crossed, he leaves on his terms. He deserves that and a whole lot more. Class act. ' ' '