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BROOKLYN - With just over four minutes to go in the third quarter, Amir Johnson sat on the bench, wincing in pain as he watched the game and, in effect, his teams season slip away. That seemed like an appropriate time to get a head start on the Raptors playoff obituary. Their first-half onslaught had evaporated, the 17-point lead was no more and Johnson, like Kyle Lowry, was battling foul trouble and a myriad of ailments. At that point the momentum, if you believe in such things, belonged to the hosting Brooklyn Nets. This upstart Raptors team had been in similar situations throughout the season - fighting for their lives, backs up against the wall - but, tied going into the fourth quarter of a critical Game 4, this would be their biggest and most revealing test yet. They had a new audience, a brighter spotlight, a bigger stage and 12 minutes to prove something that they themselves already knew. "Everybody has something on their body that definitely hurts," said Johnson, who injured his knee in a failed attempt to draw a charge on the Nets Paul Pierce, "but we keep playing, we keep fighting. Its not the time to hold back now. Weve got to keep going." The Raptors held Brooklyn without a field goal for the final six minutes, without a point for the last five and in doing so they showed more character than they had at any point in this series. "Thats just us, man," DeMar DeRozan said after scoring a team-high 24 points in the Raptors scrappy 87-79 win on Sunday, tying their best-of-seven opening round series up at 2-2. "Were definitely resilient, were not going to give up until the games over. Were going to fight through." Just as things were at their most bleak - Lowry had picked up his fifth foul and Johnson, still on the bench, was also saddled with five - the Raptors got serious. Slightly out of character, DeRozan drew a charge, then he took another. Was that a first? "Nah, I dont think so," the all-star guard said with a smirk on his face as Lowry, sitting next to him, chuckled. "I hope its not." Then Lowry, throwing caution to the wind, reached in and poked the ball away from Pierce. Johnson followed suit and in a familiar scene - one that earned him his fifth foul and a sore knee earlier - stepped in to take the charge. Both Lowry and Johnson were one foul away from spending the rest of the game watching from the sidelines, one hit to the knee away from spending the rest of the night on the trainers table. Neither player seemed willing to allow his team to lose. "Theyre fighters," said Jonas Valanciunas. "Theyre soldiers. They go on the court anyway. So its good when you have those types of guys on your team." Everyone is dealing with bumps and bruises to some degree at this point in the season. Who wasnt limping out there tonight, Valanciunas was asked. "Julyan Stone," the young centre said with a smile. But there was Lowry, limping up and down the court between possessions, lying next to the bench to stay loose when he wasnt in the game. He had tweaked his reoccurring right knee injury early in Game 3, on top of all the nicks hes accumulated over a long season, but he gutted it out again. Where would his team be without him? "We would have probably got in a fight if I tried to take him out of the game," coach Dwane Casey joked. "Hes dealing with a lot right now and he came through with flying colours. He fought through foul trouble, a little bit of adversity throughout the game and still came through.” Lowry scored 12 of his 22 points in the second half and once again, with the game on the line, his team resembled their point guard, their leader, their best player. "I am not surprised at all that Kyle was limping around, hes a warrior, hes everything to this team," said Chuck Hayes. "The guy gives it his all, we just feed off of him. Then we tease him about it after, hes going to have probably every ice bag in here on his body." "We dont give up man, were some fighters," Hayes continued. "We play like the underdog, we were the underdog probably all year, including this series. I dont know, we just go out there and play for each other." Go ahead, underestimate them, disrespect them and count them out. They feed off it. If respect is earned in the postseason, perhaps the Raptors are starting to turn heads. "We understand that this is a group thats not going to back down, thats not going to give up," Pierce said after the game. "Theyve earned a lot of peoples respect around the league. Just because you dont have a lot of playoff experience doesnt mean youre not a good team. You can learn on the fly." Theyve done just that, now its a whole new ball game. The Raptors will return to Toronto and their raucous crowd at the Air Canada Centre after reclaiming home-court advantage for what has become a best-of-three set, beginning with Wednesdays Game 5. Have they played their best basketball? "No," Lowry and DeRozan answered in unison, but there is a growing sense of belief in the room coinciding with an ambiance of nervousness that spread throughout Barclays Center as Toronto hit back on Sunday. The Raptors may not be in over their heads after all. "Were on a mission," Casey said. "Were not just here trying to win a game. We want to make sure we stay poised, stay focused on our business. Thats what weve been about all year." Wholesale Lions Jerseys Free Shipping . Russia has spent about $51 billion to deliver the Sochi Olympics, which run Feb. 7-23, making them the most expensive games ever, even though as a winter event it hosts many fewer athletes than summer games do. Cheap Lions Jerseys Online . 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The Browns have five days -- until 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday -- to match Jacksonvilles offer or theyll lose Mack, who has not missed a single offensive play since the Browns drafted him in 2009. The club secured that right for the time to weigh the decision after placing a $10 million transition tag on the 28-year-old Mack before free agency opened. The deal includes $26 million guaranteed and would make Mack the NFLs highest-paid centre. The team entered free agency with re-signing Mack as one of its top priorities, and there doesnt seem any reason the Browns wouldnt lock him up for a few more years. Macks contract also has an option for him to void the deal after two seasons. Also, his team cant tag or trade him. Earlier this week, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam said he was confident Mack would remain with Cleveland. "We remain optimistic that Alex Mack will be a Cleveland Brown for a long time," Haslam said at the premiere of "Draft Day," a fictional film about the Browns. "We want him to be. I think weve made it very clear that hes the kind of person, the kind of player we want in our organization." Mack has played 4,998 consecutivee snaps with the Browns.dddddddddddd In 2011, Mack played despite a severe attack of appendicitis that landed him in surgery the following day. He has developed into one of the games top centres, lauded for his blocking ability, leadership and helping Clevelands quarterbacks read defences. With Mack in the middle and Pro Bowl tackle Joe Thomas on the left side, the Browns have one of the AFCs top offensive lines. They dont want to weaken one of their only strengths. "Obviously, weve made it kind of evident how important Alex is to this team, and whether its talking with (Pro Bowl tackle) Joe (Thomas) or talking with some of the other players, were all just hoping it gets resolved soon and hes back," quarterback Brian Hoyer said. "Obviously we have a new system to learn and hes the anchor of that offensive line." It would be understandable if Mack wanted to test the free-agent waters. The Browns have gone just 23-57 since he joined them in 2009, and Mike Pettine will be Macks fourth head coach in six years Mack reportedly enjoyed his visit with the Jaguars, who like the Browns, have been stuck in a cycle of losing. But the teams offer to Mack is a strong sign of its intention to upgrade its roster and revamp one of the leagues worst offensive lines. The Jaguars selected left tackle Luke Joeckel with the second overall pick in last years draft and signed former Denver guard Zane Beadles in free agency last month. 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