TORONTO - As Dwane Casey called a timeout late in Fridays victory, one of his teams most impressive of the campaign, an honorary addition to the Raptors coaching body was the first to race out and rally the troops. Donning a charcoal blazer on top of his white t-shirt, Kyle Lowry immediately pulled aside his replacement, Greivis Vasquez, as the two point guards calibrated by the bench with less than a minute remaining. A reluctant spectator for the second straight contest, nursing his bruised knee, Lowry refused to take the night off. Not that anyone truly expected him to. "He was like our second or third coach," said Jonas Valanciunas. "He was kind of doing the same thing he does when hes in the game," added Terrence Ross. "Helping us with plays, drawing things up for us, being vocal." The Raptors would rather have him in uniform, dressed in red and white while leading his team in the trenches instead of on the sidelines, but they have more than held their own in his absence. For the second time in three days, Toronto - missing both Lowry and forward Amir Johnson - was able to knock off a top-six team, as the teams confidence continues to grow heading into the playoffs. "With us we feel like we can beat anybody when we step out there on the court, honestly," said DeMar DeRozan, who tallied 20 points and nine assists in his teams inspiring 102-94 win over the Indiana Pacers. "Theyre [a] top team in the East. We understand tonight was a big win at this time of the season." The Pacers - a team the Raptors could see in the second round of the playoffs, should they advance - are backing into the postseason. Frank Vogels club, losers of six straight games on the road and six of eight overall, had occupied the Easts top seed for most of the season before surrendering it to Miami last week. Vulnerable as Indiana may be, the Raptors have split the season series and given that they were without two starters on Friday, their latest victory was of the statement variety. "If theyre looking for themselves, whatever it is, its a win," Casey said. "Whatever their deal is, theyve won 53 games. Thats the way I look at it. Its a quality win." Fresh off a similarly opportunistic win over a Rockets team missing Dwight Howard and Patrick Beverley, the Raptors displayed characteristics you wouldnt expect from a young, undermanned group. They were resilient, hitting back after the Pacers cut into their 11-point cushion and took a lead of their own late in the game. They were tough, winning the battle on the boards and refusing to back down from Indys intimidation tactics. They embodied the seemingly irreplaceable qualities of their fallen comrades, Lowry and Johnson. Lowry - for better or for worse, in uniform or not - is the engine that drives this ship and even from the bench he couldnt help but to take control. "Its a little bit worse than what he does when hes in the game with you," DeRozan joked. "He just wont stop talking but hey, we deal with it, its cool. He shut up a little bit more once we were winning." "Id rather have him in uniform than in street clothes and coaching," Casey said, also having some fun at the expense of the vocal Lowry. "I tell Kyle this all the time, that when he becomes a coach I cannot wait to come watch his teams play." "Ill tell you what, Imma be that heckler in that stands. Boooo, coach." The relationship between Casey and Lowry has grown exponentially over the past 18 months. Theyre both strong-willed, passionate competitors. Whatever rift they may or may not have had last season - when the team was losing and Lowrys minutes were sporadic - appears to be a thing of the past. They understand and respect each other. Winning will do that. "I mean we have the same goals and thats to win as many games as we can win, make noise in the playoffs and compete our butts off," Casey said before the game. "Were tied together from that standpoint." The Raptors have navigated through the toughest stretch of their late-season schedule without Lowry and Johnson - out with a lingering ankle ailment - and can now afford to be more cautious with the health of their stars. Torontos final six regular season games come against sub-.500 competition, beginning with Saturdays contest against the lowly Bucks in Milwaukee. "The big picture is the most important thing," Casey acknowledged, "keeping guys healthy going forward." Sophomores stepping up Facing elite defenders at their positions, the Raptors duo of second-year starters came up big in the absence of Lowry and Johnson. Valanciunas, who scored 22 points on 14 shots, anchored Torontos defence and pulled down crucial rebounds in crunch time while vastly outplaying Pacers all-star centre Roy Hibbert. Meanwhile, Ross picked up the slack on offence, leading the team with 24 points - including five made threes - against a couple of tough wing defenders in Paul George and Lance Stephenson. "They came in and played with a lot of confidence, a lot of energy," Casey said of his sophomores. "They continue to get better and work hard at it every single day," DeRozan added. "They understand they play a key role on this team and us being successful. I credit tonights game to them because they came up big." De Colo making an impact With Vasquez stepping into Lowrys slot as the teams starting point guard, Casey has looked to trade deadline acquisition Nando De Colo off the bench. Even without scoring, the former Spurs guard has been making an impact with his energy and basketball intellect. He logged 23 minutes on Friday - most hes played with the Raptors - and with the increased role came a greater comfort level offensively. "He knows that hes going to get extended minutes with Kyle out," Casey said of De Colo, who scored 10 points and dished out five assists. "When youre in that situation you play a little more free and a little looser. Hes [being] himself and hes done an excellent job." The stat DeRozan, who had a team-high nine assists Friday, has now recorded five or more dimes in 24 games this year after doing so 18 times in his first four seasons combined. The quote "It should help their confidence," said Casey on the win. "To go against a team like Indiana without our two starters helps us but its not worth a darn if we dont come out [Saturday] night and have the same focus and energy and effort. Were happy, were excited about the win. I dont want to poo poo on it but weve got to turn it up and crank it up again tomorrow night. Jamie Benn Jersey Black Friday. 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Belichick reached his sixth Super Bowl as a head coach with the help of a touchdown pass to a 320-pound offensive tackle.That was one week after Belichick pulled out a double-pass and some innovative lineman deployment to beat the Baltimore Ravens, a strategy that impressed his Seahawks counterpart.I think its great ball, Carroll said of the man who succeeded him with much success as the New England coach. Its within rules; its great ball. They are figuring out a way to get an advantage. ... It makes you stay on your toes; I think its really good coaching.Belichick has long been known as a coach who will pursue every advantage, a doggedness that has helped him win three Super Bowls.But has also gotten him in trouble.In 2007, the Patriots were caught videotaping the other teams signals despite a warning from the league to stop doing it; Belichick was fined $500,000, and the team was fined and forced to give up a first-round draft pick.Now Belichick is under suspicion again because the NFL found that the footballs used in New Englands victory over the Colts in the AFC championship game were insufficiently inflated. On Thursday, Belichick denied having anything to do with the deflated footballs.But theres no doubt that he is intimately familiar with the rule book and willing to push its limits.For fear of giving up a competitive advantage, he listed quarterback Tom Brady on the injury report as probable every week for three years. Brady playedd in every game, and the league eventually changed the reporting rules to combat the tactic.ddddddddddddIn lamenting the lineman shuffling that confused him, Baltimore coach John Harbaugh acknowledged it was legal — though it would take a Talmudic understanding of the rule book to explain it — but was so frustrated that he took an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty to give his players a chance to figure out the matchups.In that same game, the Patriots also scored a touchdown on a pass by receiver Julian Edelman, a college quarterback who had never thrown a pass in the NFL. Belichick has also pulled out the dropkick, the pooch punt and the intentional safety.The Seahawks have their own history of trick plays.There was a touchdown pass by receiver Golden Tate against the Jets in 2012, and a flea-flicker to Jermaine Kearse last season vs. Atlanta. Seattle faked a field goal against Washington during this past regular season and another in the playoffs.I would imagine that each offence in this league has some number of trick plays, or gadgets, Patriots offensive co-ordinator Josh McDaniels said. I dont think you go into the season with 25 of them and think youre going to trick everybody every week or anything like that. I dont think thats the point.Trick plays can make a coach look like a genius or a fool, but thats not really the point either. Just knowing they are in the opponents playbook can keep a team off-balance and force it to prepare for unlikely options at the expense of more useful practice time.And even if the coaches go conservative in the Super Bowl, thats almost as good.We thought it would work, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady said with a sly smile after his pass to tackle Nate Solder went for a touchdown against the Colts on Sunday. So, I dont know. 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