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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. 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LOUIS -- David Ross never expected to be on a World Series podium.Belo Horizonte, Brazil (SportsNetwork.com) - Brazil is one win away from reaching the World Cup final at the Maracana on Sunday, but the hosts will have to overcome a stern test from Germany in the semifinals on Tuesday at the Estadio Mineirao. You can catch all of the action live on TSN 1050, TSN 690, TSN 1200, TSN 1260 and TEAM 1410. Much of the focus surrounding this match has centered on how Brazil will cope without two of its most important players against the Germans as both Neymar and Thiago Silva will take no part in Tuesdays showdown. Silva, Brazils captain and one of the best defenders in the world, will miss the game through suspension because of an accumulation of yellow cards after he was booked in the second half of Brazils 2-1 quarterfinal victory over Colombia. Neymar has been one of the faces of this World Cup and head coach Luiz Felipe Scolari must now find a way to replace the four goals and one assist that the 22-year-old tallied in helping his side reach the last four. The Barcelona star was ruled out for the rest of the tournament after suffering a fractured vertebra in a collision with Colombias Juan Zuniga, and he will likely be replaced by Willian in Scolaris starting lineup on Tuesday. Brazil has been very reliant on Neymar at times during this tournament, but Willian believes that despite the absence of his superstar teammate, his side is even stronger because of the adversity the team now faces. "Neymar sets the standard for us. He is capable of deciding any game, so playing without him will be difficult," Willian said. "We know the quality that we have. We are all very sad at losing him but we are now even stronger after what happened and we can continue to pursue our dream." Scolari is likely to replace Silva with Bayern Munich defender Dante, a man who knows his German opposition very well. Dantes knowledge of Germany could prove to be important, but as Germany midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger pointed out, that understanding of the opponent cuts both ways. "I hope he starts, we know him very well and know his strengths and weaknesses, but he also knowss how we play," said Schweinsteiger, who is a teammate of Dante at Bayern.dddddddddddd Brazil is receiving much of the attention ahead of this semifinal, while Germany has quietly gone about its business and will be making a record fourth straight appearance in the last four at a World Cup. Germany coasted through Group G to reach the knockout round, but Joachim Lows team had a much more difficult time with Algeria than expected in the round of 16, needing extra time to dispatch the Desert Foxes, 2-1. The Germans were much more clinical in knocking off France, 1-0, in the quarterfinals, and Lows men will no doubt be full of confidence ahead of the showdown with Brazil. These two heavyweights last met in the 2002 World Cup final, with Brazil emerging as 2-0 victors to claim a record fifth Jules Rimet trophy. But Schweinsteiger feels as though this is a much different Brazil side than the one that most people have become accustomed to, and that his German teammates should expect a physical game. "The Brazilians here arent the magicians of old, the team has changed and so has their playing style," said Schweinsteiger. "Hard challenges are definitely a part of their game, its something we have to be careful of and the referee too." This Brazil side has certainly not resembled the great Brazil teams of old, which played with a creativity and flair that hasnt been exhibited by this edition of the Selecao. However, that certainly doesnt mean that Scolaris men pose less of a threat to the Germans, even without Neymar and Silva. Playing the host nation at this stage of the World Cup is a difficult task, and Germany knows all too well what it feels like to go out at this point in the tournament. German captain Philipp Lahm was a member of the last two World Cup teams for Germany, both of which lost in the semifinals. The thought of losing in the last four for a third successive World Cup and playing in another third-place match is a thought that the defender isnt interested in entertaining. "I really do not need that, thats something I want to rule out," Lahm said. ' ' '