That pace is likely to continue

Even without their most reliable offensive weapon, the Toronto Raptors continue to score at their best pace in franchise history. Stitched Packers Jerseys . That pace is likely to continue Sunday night against the Denver Nuggets, who rank among the worst defensive teams in the NBA. DeMar DeRozan, who led Toronto (23-7) in scoring each of the past three seasons, has been sidelined since late November with a groin injury, yet his absence has done little to slow the best team in the Eastern Conference. The Raptors have reached the 110-point mark in each of their past four games, including Saturdays 110-98 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers in the second stop on a season-long six-game road trip. Kyle Lowry has emerged as an elite guard with DeRozan out. Hes averaged 22.0 points and 9.0 assists in the 14 games DeRozan has missed after tallying 18.6 and 6.4 in the first 16 contests. Lowry had a game-high 25 points and seven assists Saturday. Were a full team, Lowry said. I mean, we need DeMar back, we want him back and we cant wait for him to get back. But for now, we cant make excuses because DeMars not playing. Its all about the next man up. Were a very deep team. Toronto has also produced quality defensive play during its 7-1 run, holding opponents under 100 points five times in that span. The Raptors are 13-0 this season when accomplishing that feat. Toronto snapped a nine-game skid in Denver (13-17) with a 100-90 victory on Jan. 31, and also took the first meeting this season, 112-107 in overtime on Dec. 8. Lou Williams scored 26 points in that game and has become a key component for one of the best second-units in the NBA. Williams, along with Greivis Vasquez and Patrick Patterson, headline a bench that scores 39.6 points per game - among the highest marks in the league. Weve got a great bench and we feed off of each other, Vasquez said. It may not show in the stats, but a lot of different guys do a lot of different things. The second (unit) doesnt get as much credit as the starters, but we dont care. Denver won its third straight at home, 106-102 over Minnesota on Friday, as Kenneth Faried collected a season-high 26 points and a career-best 25 rebounds. Facing the defensively-challenged Timberwolves obviously helped as the Nuggets scored 106 points after averaging 84.7 over the previous three games. The other end of the court remains an issue for Denver, which has allowed an average of 106.0 points in its last eight games, excluding a 76-73 win over Indiana on Dec. 20. Everything starts with defense, coach Brian Shaw said. We have to do a better job defensively and have more consistency on that end of the court. Were slipping in terms of were fouling too much. Arron Afflalo chipped in 13 points Friday but shot 4 of 16. Hes connected on only 29.7 percent (19 of 64) from the field over his last five games and is 2 for 21 from 3-point range during that span. He scored 25 on 9-of-14 shooting in the loss to Toronto earlier this month. The Nuggets were without Faried in that contest due to a lower back strain, yet still managed to outrebound the Raptors 49-44. Packers Jerseys 2020 . - Steve Stricker usually doesnt show up at a tournament on Sunday. Wholesale Packers Jerseys . The move - the latest twist in Greeces nearly three-year financial freefall -- is the first such action by any of the countrys major sports bodies. It immediately halts all domestic track and field competitions, including track meets May 12-13 in several Greek cities.West Hams top-four hopes suffered a blow after they were beaten 4-1 by Swansea on Saturday in the penultimate game to be played at Upton Park. A victory for the Hammers would have taken them within two points of fourth-placed Manchester City, but a rampant Swansea sprung a shock through goals from Wayne Routledge (25), Andre Ayew (31), Ki Sung-yueng (51) and Bafetimbi Gomis (90+3) .Stephen Kingsleys own-goal (68) had briefly reduced the deficit for West Ham, who remain in sixth place after suffering their first home defeat since the end of August.  Swansea move up two places to 11th after claiming their first victory in east London for 60 years. West Ham will play their final match at Upton Park on Tuesday night when they take on Manchester United, live on Sky Sports 1 HD. Slaven Bilic praised Swanseas approach to the game but criticised his side for playing like passengers Slaven Bilic made two changes to the West Ham team that won 3-0 at West Brom last Saturday, with Darren Randolph and Victor Moses coming in for Adrian and Diafra Sakho, and he was initially rewarded with a positive start. Dimitri Payet came close to opening the scoring inside three minutes, but his curling effort from the edge of the box was turned behind by Lukasz Fabianski.  Swansea winger Modou Barrow gets to the ball ahead of West Ham midfielder Chiekhou Kouyate The France international continued to be a threat for West Ham and went close again after 18 minutes, firing a free-kick just over the crossbar. But, against the run of play, Swansea broke the deadlock and stunned a boisterous home support into silence. Ki and Kyle Naughton combined to great effect with the latter delivering a fabulous first-time ball across the six-yard box for Routledge to tap home.  Francesco Guidolin thought Swansea were excellent in their 4-1 win but refused to answer any questions regarding his future From then on, Swansea grew in confidence and were soon 2-0 up. Green Bay Packers Gear. Kingsley, one of six changes made by Francesco Guidolin, picked out Ayew inside the 18-yard box and the forward made no mistake, crashing his effort past Randolph. West Ham briefly threatened to pull a goal back before half-time, but Andy Carroll and Manuel Lanzini failed to keep their efforts on target.  After the interval, Swansea continued to be the most threatening of the sides and grabbed their third when Ki rattled his volley into the bottom corner of the net following good work on the left flank by the impressive Modou Barrow. Kingsley raised hopes of a West Ham comeback when he inadvertently bundled home from close range after Michail Antonio and Sakho were denied by Fabianski.But Swansea would extend their lead in the closing stages with substitute Gomis slotting his shot into the bottom corner after a neat exchange of passes with Ayew.  Pick your team Aguero? Ozil? De Bruyne? Pick your Fantasy Six-a-Side team for the chance to win ￡10,000 Soccer Saturday verdict - Paul MersonI thought Swansea were outstanding, I really did. They picked their passes on the counter attack and they were very ruthless.The atmosphere at the start of the game was absolutely phenomenal, at the end you would have thought it was raining. It was terrible. The fans couldnt believe it, Bilic couldnt believe it.Everybody has one of those games in their locker during the season, I dont care who you are. But to pick this day, and I really do think it was Oh, Swansea have got six changes, well turn these over Match ratingsWest Ham: Randolph (6), Antonio (5), Cresswell (5), Reid (5), Ogbonna (5), Noble (6), Kouyate (5), Moses (5), Lanzini (6), Payet (6), Carroll (5). Subs used: Valencia (N/A), Sakho (6), Emenike (5).Swansea: Fabianski (7), Naughton (7), Fernandez (7), Amat (7), Kingsley (7), Ki (8), Cork (7), Fer (7), Routledge (7), Barrow (8), Ayew (8).Subs used: Rangel (7), Britton (N/A), Gomis (7).Man of the match: Andre Ayew. ' ' '