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TORONTO -- Whether or not the Brooklyn Nets purposefully set themselves up to face the Raptors, Toronto coach Dwane Casey warns: Be careful what you wish for. The Raptors make their first playoff appearance in six years when they host the Nets in Game 1 on Saturday -- and the opening-round series is already contentious before it has even tipped off. The Nets seemed to have been angling for this particular matchup, apparently believing their veteran experience will win out over a young, inexperienced Raptors squad. "It would tick me off if that was the case. . . If they did, sometimes you have to be careful what you wish for," Casey said. "For us, we were going to take whoever came to us, whether it was Brooklyn or Washington or Charlotte. We were prepared for all three teams." Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri echoed his coachs sentiments. "Good for them," Ujiri said. "You know what? We havent lost one -- I know I havent and I can sense from the players -- second of sleep worrying about the Brooklyn Nets. At the end of the day if we want to be a good team, we have to play good teams. Were not hoping for anybody. Were in the playoffs. You have to play. "They can do whatever they want. Well be right here." The Nets lost four of five games down the stretch, and Brooklyn coach Jason Kidd sat his starters for Wednesdays season-finale -- a whopping 29-point loss to Cleveland -- fuelling chatter the Nets were tanking in order to drop to the sixth seed, pitting them against Toronto rather than Chicago. If they were insulted by suggestions the Nets preferred to play them, the Raptors werent saying Thursday. "Man, weve had a chip on our shoulder all year. We dont care. It aint going to stop now," said Raptors all-star DeMar DeRozan. "The same chip we had before the season even started, weve got it now. Nothings going to change, it dont matter who were playing against. At the end of the day its a playoff team. Only the good teams make the playoffs, right? Youre going to have to play somebody good so it dont matter to us." The Raptors (48-34) and Nets (44-38) split their four games during a season that saw Toronto win the Atlantic Division title and set a franchise record for victories. Raptors sophomore Terrence Ross added fuel to the fire -- unknowingly he said --about a month ago when he said he hoped for a Toronto-Brooklyn matchup. That prompted Nets centre Andray Blatche to tell the Daily News: "You better be careful what tree you bark up. He better be careful." Ross said his comment was both blown out of proportion and misinterpreted. "I said I wanted to have Brooklyn because, looking up to those guys when I was younger. . . Paul Pierce, KG (Kevin Garnett), Joe Johnson. . . so getting a chance to play with them would be like an honour," the 23-year-old Ross said Thursday. "Everyone kind of ran with it, took their own thing, whatever, thats what happens when youre in the playoffs. "But thats who we have now and I guess I did give that comment (and get) what I asked for." There is a massive discrepancy in playoff experience between the two teams, and its why many are picking the Nets to knock out the No. 3-seeded Raptors. Pierce alone -- with 136 playoff appearances -- has played in almost as many post-season games as the entire Raptors roster combined. "Were all in the same league, man. Honestly, thats how I look at it," DeRozan said, sounding exasperated by the suggestion. "Credit to them, they did what they did but we played against guys who are experienced all season, honestly." The 24-year-old DeRozan has zero playoff experience, but rolled his eyes when asked how long it will take to adjust to the pace of the post-season. "It aint like its rocket science or nothing. Everybody keeps talking to me, bringing it up like its rocket science or Ive got to know trigonometry or something," DeRozan said. "You just figure it out. You just go out there. Ive been playing this game long enough, Ive been in the league long enough, been in a lot of situations. So it shouldnt be hard." Longtime NBA coach Jeff Van Gundy, now an NBA television analyst, weighed in on the Brooklyn tanking storyline in a conference call Thursday, saying the Nets "absolutely tried to get to (the Raptors) by resting their guys." "People for some reason think Toronto is a better matchup," Van Gundy said. "I love watching the Raptors play." Van Gundy had kind words for Casey, who worked under a new GM this season in Ujiri, and saw his team thrive after the blockbuster seven-player deal in December that sent Rudy Gay to Sacramento. "I think Dwane Casey has gone through a lot of upheaval in his team in Toronto as far as roster changes, management changes, and hes handled himself with such dignity and class, and hes got his team playing so hard and so well together," Van Gundy said. "I just think they have to keep doing what theyve been doing, competing hard, playing together, big guys controlling the paint, and theyve got a tough matchup. "I like the Raptors a lot. I think theyve had a remarkable season led by a remarkable coach, and I think theyve got a great shot at advancing to the second round." Before Thursdays practice, the Raptors sat down to watch the 60-second "We the North" commercial thats part of the clubs new ad campaign. The Great White North is embraced and the Ontario capital takes centre stage in the video that kicked off a massive franchise rebrand that will continue over the next two years. Ujiri said Canadian fans -- and especially those in Toronto -- will embrace the Raptors during this long-awaited playoff run. "I think they want to make that building on Saturday and whenever we play here a living hell for those teams," Ujiri said. "Its what Ive said from Day 1 -- it should be a disadvantage to come and play here. "We The North, for me, its who we are. Enough of all of these excuses of weather and enough of all of these excuses for players who didnt want to be there. For me, thats all crap. Were moving forward. We hope Canada can stand tall, the Toronto Raptors can stand tall and we can be who we are. "Were proud to be a team in Canada. Were not apologetic to anybody or any players that left or anything that happened in the past. We are who we are. Were going to move forward. Were going to grow. Were going to win." Fernando Valenzuela Jersey . THE THUNDER & PACERS BENCHES: In a nutshell, not impressive at all. Cheap Dodgers Jerseys Authentic . 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Matt Kemp Jersey . -- Maple Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf has been suspended two games for his hit from behind on Kevan Miller of the Bruins.MILAN - Carlos Tevez scored twice to help Juventus beat Hellas Verona 4-0 on Sunday and move five points clear at the top of Serie A.Juventus had beaten Verona 6-1 in the Italian Cup on Thursday and it appeared to be on course to better that result when Paul Pogba and Tevez put the defending champion 2-0 up inside seven minutes.However, Verona goalkeeper Rafael kept the tide at bay until shortly after the hour mark when Roberto Pereyra and Tevez completed the scoring.The best news is that you see a squad where everyone is fighting for the same objective, not just the 11 who are playing, Tevez said. Pogba does phenomenal things every day. It depends only on him how far he can go.Earlier, Napoli beat Lazio 1-0 to leapfrog the Rome side into third spot in Serie A on Sunday, while Sampdoria remained firmly in the race for the final Champions League spot with a 2-0 win at Parma.Napoli and Sampdoria moved onto 33 points, with Lazio two points behind. Fiorentina was a point further back after Khouma Babacars last-gasp goal snatched a 2-1 win at Chievo Verona.Genoa was on 28 points after coming back three times to rescue a 3-3 draw against Sassuolo.There was more disappointment for AC Milan, which lost 1-0 at home to relegation-threatened Atalanta and was whistled off the pitch after its second successive home defeat. Filippo Inzaghis men have won just one of its past six matches and visit Lazio next.Elsewhere, Udinese drew 2-2 at home to Cagliari, and Torino won 3-2 at bottom club Cesena.Juventus knew it could reach the halfway point of the season with a significant advantage over second-placed Roma, which drew at Palermo on Saturday.And it took less than two minutes to take the lead, with Pogba smashing a 25-yard thunderbolt into the bottom right corner from 25 yards.Juventus had rested Tevez and Andrea Pirlo for the cup match and the formeer made his mark in the seventh minute.dddddddddddd Pogbas dummy allowed Alvaro Moratas cross through and Tevez curled it in.The home fans had to wait until the 66th minute to see Juventus extend its lead when Pereyra collected a fantastic through ball from Giorgio Chiellini and lifted it above Rafael.Tevez completed the scoring with his 13th goal of the season.In the lunchtime kickoff, Gonzalo Higuain scored in the 18th minute, latching on to a delightful ball from Dries Mertens before unleashing a strike into the top near corner from a tight angle.Lazio fought back and went close on several occasions, notably when Marco Parolo nodded a free kick off the crossbar.Higuain could also have scored a second but had an effort saved by Etrit Berisha before sending another inches wide of the left post.In Parma, Sampdoria struggled to carve out chances but finally broke the deadlock nine minutes into the second half when Eder rolled the ball across from the right for Gonzalo Bergessio to tap in at the back post.Samp all but sealed the result in the 71st minute. Bergessio hit the post from Joseph Alfred Duncans cross and Roberto Soriano fired home the rebound.Fiorentina looked to have lost ground in a riveting battle for third spot as it appeared to be heading for a draw in Verona but Babacar headed Joaquins cross in at the far post in stoppage time to snatch all three points.Joaquin had also had a hand in Fiorentinas 35th-minute opener, as Nenad Tomovic nodded his cross back across goal for Gonzalo Rodriguez to tap in.Sergio Pellissier levelled after Fiorentina missed several chances.Genoa also needed a last-gasp goal, with Ioannis Fetfatzidis — who also scored his sides second — converting a penalty in stoppages after Francesco Magnanelli fouled Juraj Kucka.Domenico Berardi also scored two, including a penalty, for Sassuolo. ' ' '