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NEW ORLEANS - The Toronto Raptors were without Jonas Valanciunas on Wednesday for their game in New Orleans against the Pelicans. Valanciunas, who left Tuesdays loss to the Hawks late in the third quarter with a lower back sprain, missed his first game of the season. Head coach Dwane Casey announced the news an hour and a half prior to tip-off. "His back is still tight," Casey said. "[He] wasnt able to get it loose. (Director of Sports Science) Alex (McKechnie) put him through some preliminary work and it still was tight so hes going to be out." Valanciunas sustained the injury turning to set a screen, feeling immediate pain in his lower back before McKechnie and the Raptors training staff made the call to pull him from the game. After navigating through a mini-slump to close the month of February, the Raptors sophomore centre had been playing some of his best basketball of the season over the past week. Getting off to hot starts in each of his last three games, Valanciunas has totalled 34 points on 14-of-20 shooting in the first quarter of those contests. The Raptors were already undermanned in the frontcourt, missing Patrick Patterson for a seventh straight game Wednesday. He is expected to be out at least another week resting an elbow injury. Tyler Hansbrough started in place of Valanciunas. Both he and Chuck Hayes will see increased playing time as long as the teams starting centre in sidelined. Amir Johnson also played against the Pelicans after tweaking a lingering right ankle injury at the end of regulation in Tuesdays overtime loss. "Weve been very fortunate not to have that many injuries up until this part of the season," said Casey. "A lot of teams had them earlier and its unfortunate were hitting them now but its part of the NBA. Now weve got to adjust to it and make hay from it." Valanciunas is considered day-to-day. Marco Verratti Jersey . Ilonen birdied five of his closing seven holes in superb scoring conditions to end the day with a two-shot lead on the Fota Island course. Ilonen had just 26 putts on the occasion of his 300th European Tour event. Presnel Kimpembe Jersey . Vonn punctuated her near-perfect season in perfect fashion Friday, earning her fourth overall World Cup title with a dominating giant slalom victory. http://www.parissaintgermainfcstore.com/Women-Thomas-Meunier-Paris-Saint-Germain-Jersey/ . The two were in the batting cage moments before game time. Bautista was taking final warm up cuts. Pillar was hitting soft toss. The one-time utility player turned All-Star pulled aside the clubs young, fourth outfielder and offered him some advice. Giovani Lo Celso Paris Saint-Germain Jersey . While plenty of statistics illustrate Torontos turnaround in the second year of manager Ryan Nelsens tenure, stopping goals is not one of them. Angel Di Maria Paris Saint-Germain Jersey . -- Derek Jeter says the New York Yankees have no choice but to move forward now that Alex Rodriguez has accepted his suspension for the 2014 season.(SportsNetwork.com) - As if things could get worse for the New York Jets. Not only are Rex Ryan and Co. already irrelevant in the standings at the seasons halfway point and in the middle of one of their semi-annual quarterback controversies, theyll visit a Kansas City Chiefs team this Sunday that seems ideally suited to whatever they might arrive with. Backup signal-caller Michael Vick makes his first start since his days with the Philadelphia Eagles against the leagues top-rated pass defense, third overall defense and third overall scoring defense. Kansas City enters the weekend having won two straight games, defeating San Diego and St. Louis while allowing just 451 total yards. The Chiefs registered seven sacks in a point 27-point home defeat of the Rams on Sunday, and the Jets arrive toting a league-worst turnover margin (minus-15) and No. 28 rankings in both total offense (319.4 yards per week) and scoring offense (18 points per week). New York will gets its first full-game look at the tandem of Vick and Percy Harvin, who caught three passes and carried four times in a 20-point loss to Buffalo last week, but that wont be of significant help to a battered defensive unit thats allowed 30.6 points per week in a seven-game losing slide. Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith sprained his right shoulder against the Rams, but stayed in and finished with 226 pass yards. He sustained no structural damage and is probable for the weekend. Hes upbeat about it and we did all of the precautionary things looking at it, Kansas City coach Andy Reid said, so just need a little time to get the soreness out of there. His load is lightened thanks to the presence of the running duo of Jamaal Charles and Knile Davis, who combined for 122 yards and three scores against St. Louis. The Chiefs are best in the AFC with 140.7 ground yards per game, though stopping the run is one of things the Jets do with some success - surrendering 85.4 yards per game and 3.3 yards per attempt. In his last six games, Charles has averaged five yards per game and scored six times. Still, its no understatement to suggest the headline-grabbing matchup is elsewhere. As fate would have it, Vicks return to the starting lineup comes against the very same man - Reid - who famously gave him a second chance with the Eagles in 2009, following a two-year prison stint. In three subsequent seasons with Philadelphia, he had 8,683 yards with 51 touchdowns, 30 interceptions and a 6.7-yard per-carry average - including a comeback player of the year nod in 2010. He maintained his starting role under Reid until the coach was fired following a 4-12 season in 2012. I love Andy Reid for the man that he is, said Vick, whose last start came in Week 8 last season. As far as the football gaame, football is football.dddddddddddd I just want to go out there and do whats best for the team and hopefully try to get a win. Its kind of ironic. Would I have wanted it that way? Honestly, no. A loss for the Jets would yield their first eight-game skid since the first half of 1996s 1-15 debacle. I liked him better when he was in my world with the same helmet and team because hes a good football player, Reid said. Vick relieved embattled starter Geno Smith in the loss to the Bills after the youngster threw three interceptions in the first quarter. The older man wasnt exactly spectacular while completing 18 of 36 passes for 153 yards and an interception - in addition to 69 rushing yards - but he gets the lesser-of- two-evils vote from equally embattled coach Rex Ryan. To say Ryans job security is non-existent would be an understatement. My focus is just on Kansas City and trying to find a way to get a win, he said. Thats why this decision was made. Vick also relieved Smith in a Week 5 loss to San Diego and was 8-for-19 for 47 yards, then conceded afterward that hed been unprepared to play. Its a great opportunity, he said. Any time you get named to be the starter, in any profession, in professional sports, its a great thing. You have to relish it, but also at the same time take it extremely serious and understand whats at stake and what needs to be done. WHAT TO WATCH FOR Hey, Dont I Know You? Not only is Vicks meeting with his former coach an opportunity for two old friends to get together, it also provides a chance for the ex-Eagles boss to share an extensive dossier of QB-centric knowledge with his current staff - which, ironically, includes former Jets assistant Bob Sutton, now the Chiefs defensive coordinator. Of note, Vick lost two fumbles and was picked off once in the relief stint against Buffalo. Can Anyone Here Run This Ball? For all their faults, the Jets may have a fertile matchup on the ground against a Chiefs defense thats surrendered 4.7 yards per attempt. That obviously could mean more opportunities for Harvin as he grows more accustomed to the offense. On the flip side, Charles has 340 in his last three games but faces a stout task in the New York rush defense that gave up only 67 ground yards last week. OVERALL ANALYSIS Maybe Ryan will give the speech of his life and rev a 1-7 team. Maybe seeing Reid again will convince Vick that its 2010. And maybe the Jets will bottle up Charles enough to keep Kansas City in check. Or, maybe the 20-point loss to Buffalo and Vicks less-than-stellar play in two previous auditions are indicative of a franchise whose disarray surface is just being scratched. Three words: Assume the latter. 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