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NEW ORLEANS - Jonas Valanciunas stay in The Big Easy will be a brief one. After making his All-Star debut in Fridays Rising Stars Challenge, the Raptors sophomore centre wont be sticking around for the duration of the weekends festivities, thinking about the big picture instead. Valanciunas, who scored four points in 19 minutes for the victorious Team Hill in the annual rookie-sophomore showcase, will spend two days on a beach in Mexico. How soon does he leave? "As soon as possible," he joked after Fridays game. "I want to see that sun." Scheduled to take off from New Orleans Saturday morning, Valanciunas vacation will also be short-lived. He and the rest of the team will reconvene in Washington Monday for practice but a little relaxation before that could go a long way for the Raptors young centre. "[I can] just relax my body," he said of the excursion, "have some time off to relax my mind, relax my body and be ready for the next half of the season." With 30 regular season games and - barring a complete Raptors collapse - at least a few playoff contests to go, Valanciunas should surpass his minute total from last season in the next week, hes 32 minutes shy of matching his rookie mark. After a strong eight-game stretch, averaging 15.4 points and 10.8 rebounds, to close out last month and begin February, the 21-year-old was rusty going into the break. Despite grabbing 14 boards, he connected on just one of his nine attempts, logging just 24 minutes in Wednesdays win over the Hawks. "He needs a rest," Dwane Casey said after that game. "He needs a mental rest." The stretch run will be uncharted territory for Valanciunas and the Raptors will need him at full strength, both physically and mentally. His time in New Orleans, however brief, was not especially taxing. Valanciunas four points was tied with Phoenixs Miles Plumlee for lowest in the game. In general the event is not one that lends itself to prototypical big men. Its a high-scoring, up and down display of athleticism and three-point shooting. "Everybody wants to score," he said. "Everybody wants to do some beautiful dunks, beautiful shots and my job is to bang inside." Valanciunas may have been the only one on the court looking to set screens and box out. Offensively, he was out of place, failing to convert three alley-oops, getting a hook shot blocked by the Pelicans Anthony Davis and even missing a rare three-pointer. "That was my goal the whole game," he said with a smile. "To make a three." Valanciunas team, drafted by Grant Hill, was victorious by a score of 142-136 over Team Chris Webber. Detroits Andre Drummond was awarded MVP, voted on by the fans, after scoring 30 points and grabbing 25 boards. Clevelands Dion Waiters had 31 points and the Knicks Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 36 for Team Webber. Asics Shoes From China .com) - Oregon wasnt going to let Arizona ruin its national title dreams for a second straight season. Cheap Asics Shoes . The 10-horse field of 3-year-old pacers will leave the starting gate at approximately 10:14pm et. Co-owned and trained by David Menary, Hes Watching will be driven by Tim Tetrick and is the 5-1 fourth selection in the field. http://www.cheapasics.com/ . Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Frank Thomas appeared to be on track to gain election from the Baseball Writers Association of America on Wednesday, and Craig Biggio could join them. Wholesale Asics Shoes Free Shipping . I wondered how NHL coaches would feel about a playoff schedule that allowed them to open a best-of-seven series on the road, which many claim to favour, yet still gave them the precious home-ice edge for a seventh game. Cheap Asics Shoes Online .com) - The Vancouver Canucks hope an upcoming stretch of home games will be enough to get the club into the postseason. PALM HARBOR, Fla. -- Robert Garrigus cant recall a better performance going into the weekend. And his golf has been pretty good, too. Garrigus spent most of the practice days fishing in the lakes of Innisbrook, catching nearly three dozen bass. As for his day job, he bagged 10 birdies over two days and delivered the best score of the tournament, a 5-under 66 on Friday, to build a three-shot lead in the Valspar Championship. His only other PGA Tour victory was a little more than an hour away at Disney, and Garrigus offered a simple explanation. "Its the fishing," he said. Garrigus didnt play a single practice round the year he won Disney. He arrived at Innisbrook on Monday and fished that evening, most of Tuesday and then for about five hours Wednesday without ever looking at the Copperhead course. "I think that puts me in a good frame of mind because Im clear and not thinking about anything, just going out and having some fun," he said. His golf has been plenty fun. Garrigus, one of the longest hitters in golf, has made birdie on all of the par 5s both rounds. That has contributed mightily to being at 7-under 135, three shots clear of Kevin Na going into a weekend with a Masters spot potentially up for grabs. Only five of the top 22 on the leaderboard already are eligible for the Masters. Na had a 68, while the group four shots behind included Pat Perez (71), Matteo Manassero (70) and Justin Rose (68), who is the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 7. Matt Every shot a 71 in the afternoon and joined them at 3-under 139. The three-shot lead is the largest through 36 holes in the 14-year history of this tournament. Garrigus is about the only player who has made it look easy, even though he felt as stressed as anyone on the Copperhead course, regarded by many as perhaps the best tournament course in Florida. Even though the weather was close to perfect -- only a breeze in warm sunshine -- only 17 players broke 70. John Daly was not among them. He was struggling with what he called the yips with his putter when he got to the 16th hole. Daly put three shots in the water, shanked a 7-iron, duffed a chip into the bunker and made a 12. With a double bogey on the last hole, he shot a 90, the highest score of his PGA Tour career. David Hearn (70) of Brantford, Ont., sat in a tie for 12th at 1-under par, while Calgarys Stephen Ames (70) was in a group at 22nd at even par. Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., shot a 68 to improve on his first-rounnd score of 75 to jump into a tie for 35th at 1 over.dddddddddddd Mike Weir of Brights Grove, Ont., did not make the cut. For all his birdies, Garrigus was especially satisfied with one par. He pulled his tee shot well left on the 16th hole, the most dangerous tee shot at Innisbrook. The ball went deep into the pines, and Garrigus decided to take on a tiny gap in the trees with a 5-iron. "I probably hit one of the top-five shots of my life there on 16 out of the trees," he said. "Hit a low, cut 5-iron, then rose it up over the pine tree and cut it 40 yards and hit to 10 feet. Thats just one of those shots that when youre playing good and everything is rolling, you kind of expect it. It was a lot of fun to try it, and to pull it off was even better. Ive spent half my life in the trees. Ive had a lot of practice." He missed the putt, but was more than happy with par. As for the rest of the golf course, he picked up another birdie on the par-3 15th with a long putt, and one on the par-4 ninth with a 20-foot birdie down the hill. Rose feels as if his shoulder injury is in the past, except for answering questions about it. He loves the Florida swing because the courses demand so many different shots, and Innisbrook might require the most. The U.S. Open champion was struggling in the first round until he finished birdie-birdie to salvage a 71. He carried that momentum into the second round, and despite a bogey on No. 6 from being out of position off the tee, and a soft bogey on the par-3 eighth, he felt much better ending with a birdie. "I got some momentum going today," Rose said. "I worked my way into the tournament early. To finish strong with my round yesterday I think helped give me some momentum into day. ... Its exactly how I needed to flow into the tournament." Perez was the first player to reach 5 under for the tournament until he missed two drives well to the left. One was in the trees at No. 6, the other went out of bounds on No. 7. Both led to double bogeys, though Perez didnt get down on himself. "Just move on and keep going," he said. DIVOTS: The cut was at 3-over 145 and because 84 players advanced to Saturday, there will be a 54-hole cut to top 70 and ties on Saturday. ... Danny Lee went from first to worst. He was tied for the lead Thursday, and then shot 79 to miss the cut. ... Darren Clarke made his first cut of 2014 on the PGA Tour. He withdrew after one round at Riviera and missed the cut at the Honda Classic. ' ' '