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TORONTO -- On a whiteboard in the Toronto Raptors locker-room, someone had scribbled "81 more!" The Raptors ushered in a new NBA season with a victory Wednesday, but nearly squandered a 16-point lead before pulling away in the fourth quarter to beat the Boston Celtics 93-87. Johnny Bower Maple Leafs Jersey . Instead of celebrating their first win, they talked about the work there is to be done. "A lot of work defensively," Raptors coach Dwane Casey said, on what the team needs. "Team shoots 48 per cent on you, thats not who we are, that not what we have to stand for. I thought we grinded it out." Rudy Gay topped Toronto with 19 points, Amir Johnson and DeMar DeRozan had 13 points apiece, while Kyle Lowry had 11 points and eight assists. Jonas Valanciunas grabbed 11 rebounds to go with eight points, while Tyler Hansbrough -- acquired in the off-season-- had a game-high 12 boards and seven points. "One game at a time, we have 81 more," said Gay. "Were just trying to get a good start, a cushion, because there are going to be times when you cant find a win, we want to prepare for that by getting these wins in the beginning. "Were in a pretty good spot, first game of the season, first real minutes weve played, plus we were coming off a whole week without playing" The Raptors shot 44 per cent, and outrebounded the Celtics 48-33. Bostons Jeff Green had 26 points to lead all scorers, while Brandon Bass added 17. Johnsons dunk early in the third quarter had put Toronto up by 16 points, but the Celtics chipped away at the deficit and when Bass scored on a putback dunk, it tied the game 71-71 with a quarter left. "Like I said at halftime, a team worth their salt in the NBA is going to make their run and they did I like the way our guys bounced back, but we should never put ourselves in that hole." When Johnson stepped back to drain a rare -- for him -- three-pointer to put Toronto up by four points with 6:21 to play, it brought the capacity crowd of 20,155 at the Air Canada Centre to its feet and injected some late-game life into the Raptors. "I finally hit one, they left me open," said Johnson, who grinned to his teammates as he backpedalled up the court after the shot. "(The fans) were kind of hyping me up, so I definitely had to shoot it. I knew it was good as soon as I released it." DeRozan scored with two-and-a-half minutes to play to give Toronto a 10-point lead. Former Raptor Kris Humphries scored to pull the Celtics within five with under a minute to go, but that was as close as Boston would come. Canadian Kelly Olynyk, who was born in Toronto and moved to Kamloops, B.C., made his NBA regular-season debut, finishing with two points in 16 minutes for the Celtics. "Those guys, to their credit, they turned it up a notch and were pretty good for the rest of the way," said Boston coach Brad Stevens. "Gay and DeRozan made a bunch of tough shots. And those guys are really tough to handle." The night began with the traditional season-opening glitz and glamour. Players marched across a brightly lit stage to introductions while a drum line played. Gay took the mic and addressed the crowd, saying "Thanks for your support. Go Raps!" Jon Bon Jovi sat courtside sandwiched between Tim Leiweke, president and CEO of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment Ltd., and Larry Tanenbaum, MLSEs chairman. Former Raptors fan favourite Morris Peterson was also at the game. The Raptors are hoping this is the season they finally end their playoff drought. They went 34-48 last season to miss the post-season for the fifth straight year, then Leiweke virtually cleaned house in the front office, most notably hiring Masai Ujiri to replace Bryan Colangelo as general manager. Management made few changes to the product on the floor, though, as all five starters Wednesday -- Lowry, DeRozan, Gay, Johnson and Valanciunas -- were back from last year, compared to this night last season when three of the starters were brand new. The Raptors had beaten Boston twice in the pre-season, winning six of seven exhibitions. The Celtics, who dealt veterans Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to Brooklyn in the off-season, went just 2-6. The Celtics led for the entire first quarter, despite a strong start for Valanciunas -- he hauled down six rebounds in the frame -- and Boston took a 26-21 lead into the second. Ross drained a three-pointer with two seconds left in the first half to cap a 12-0 Raptors run late in the second quarter and Toronto led 49-37 at halftime. A win over Boston was key to Torontos early season schedule, which is gruelling once again. Among the Raptors early opponents: two-time defending NBA champion Miami Heat, plus Houston, Memphis, Chicago and Brooklyn. Shawn Matthias Jersey . Vettel, who has already clinched his fourth straight F1 title, enters the finale with a chance to equal Michael Schumachers 13 victories in a year and match the record of nine consecutive wins by Alberto Ascari in the 1952 and 1953 seasons. Dave Keon Maple Leafs Jersey . They reached the 100-point plateau for the fourth time in five games, bested the visiting Trail Blazers by 34 in the paint and scored 19 of the final 25 points in regulation. http://www.jerseyofficialmapleleafshockey.com/kris-versteeg-hockey-jersey/ . They had already blown a double-digit lead, fans were hitting the exits, and a long seven-game road trip waited at the end.INDIANAPOLIS -- The Kansas City Chiefs lost running back Jamaal Charles and wide receiver Donnie Avery during Saturdays wild-card game at Indianapolis. Charles and Avery were ruled out for the rest of the game, while cornerback Brandon Flowers was considered questionable as he underwent evaluation for a concussion. Charles was hurt on his third carry of the game and stayed down on the ground for several minutes before walking off the field under his own power. Team trainers tended to him on the sideline, doing what appeared to be concussion tests, before walking with Charles into the locker room. Team officials later ruled out a return by their top offensive player. The sixth-year running baack led the AFC in rushing with 1,287 yards, and led the Chiefs (11-5) with 70 receptions for 693 yards and seven TDs. Grant Fuhr Jersey. His 19 total touchdowns were tops in the NFL. Things got worse in the second half. Avery, who caught a 79-yard TD pass in the first half, was diagnosed with a concussion early in the second half and was ruled out of the game, too. He finished the day with three receptions against his former team. Then, as the Colts rallied in the third quarter, Flowers was injured on a 3-yard screen pass as he tried to prevent Donald Brown from scoring a touchdown. Flowers stayed down on the ground as teammates huddled around him and coach Andy Reid walked to the goal line. wholesale jerseys cheap jerseys cheap nfl jerseys wholesale jerseys cheap soccer jerseys wholesale jerseys wholesale jerseys cheap nfl jerseys china ' ' '