TORONTO -- Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri apologized Saturday for insulting Brooklyn before an outdoor gathering of fans in advance of Torontos NBA playoff game against the Nets. Brooklyn had the last laugh, however, hanging on for a 94-87 victory in Game 1 of the first-round best-of-seven series. Emotions ran high as the Raptors returned to the playoffs for the first time since 2008 and Ujiri helped stoke the pre-game fire. Ujiri, a former NBA executive of the year in Denver, took the stage before the afternoon game to address pumped-up fans under bright sunshine at Maple Leafs Square. The moment seemed to get to him as he paired an F-bomb and Brooklyn on his way off the stage. The crowd loved it, roaring in response. He handed the microphone to his boss, MLSE CEO Tim Leiweke, who smiled and shook his head before leaving the stage. Video of the trash talk quickly surfaced on Twitter and other social media. The GM was quick to do damage control, with team officials summoning media for a halftime gathering in the hall outside the playoff media centre at the Air Canada Centre. "I apologize. Wrong choice of words out there," Ujiri told some three dozen media. "This thing is really not about me, its about the players and the playoffs. So just trying to get the crowd out there rattled. Wrong choice of words. "I apologize to kids out there and to the Brooklyn guys. Nothing against them. Just trying to get our fans going. Thats it." He declined to take questions. But he offered an addendum, over his shoulder, as he headed down the corridor. "You know how I feel," he said. "I dont like them (the Nets) but I apologize." Adding to the drama of the day, the shot clocks stopped working -- prompting a break -- in the third quarter. The shot clock was subsequently counted down by longtime PA announcer Herbie Kuhn as he looked at the stopwatch held by the official next to him. Kuhn likely needed a post-game throat lozenge. The crowd was loud and proud inside the building and out. Those inside sported giveaway white T-shirts with the words Northern Uprising around a Raptors logo on them. Drake, hip-hop star and Raptors global ambassador, sported one of the shirts under his jacket in his normal courtside perch. He was heavily involved in the Raptors rebrand, built around the slogan "We The North." Ujiri was feisty prior to the series, after talk the Nets may have slipped down the standings in order to face the Raptors. The Toronto GM said his team "havent lost one second of sleep worrying about the Brooklyn Nets." "They can do whatever they want," Ujiri said Thursday. "Well be right here." The Toronto Sun tabloid helped stir the pot with a Page 1 headline that said "Raptors vs. Dinosaurs," in a shot at Brooklyns aging stars. Game 2 is Tuesday at the Air Canada Centre. Toronto (48-34) and Brooklyn (44-38) split four meetings during the regular season. 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This game was inside. Adrian Peterson was missing. The stage was set for another step toward the playoffs.SAN DIEGO - Jon Lester agreed Tuesday night to a $155 million, six-year contract with the Cubs, the first big deal of the off-season involving a top-level starting pitcher and one Chicago hopes will help end more than a century of frustration at Wrigley Fields Friendly Confines.Lesters contract, agreed to on the second day of baseballs winter meetings, contains an option for 2021 that, if it becomes guaranteed, would make the deal worth $170 million over seven seasons. The average annual value of $25.8 million is the second-highest for a pitcher behind Clayton Kershaws $30.7 million as part of a $215 million, seven-year deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers that began this year.Its not often you get to win the lottery, and we won the baseball lottery this year, new Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. Now its up to us to put it into effect.A three-time All-Star who turns 31 next month, Lester won two World Series titles with Boston. The left-hander joins a long-suffering team with a promising core of young players and a top-tier manager, Maddon, who left Tampa Bay and signed a $25 million, five-year contract with the Cubs.Now, Chicago has an ace to lead the rotation as it tries to end a run of five straight losing seasons and a championship drought that dates to 1908.Lester was dealt by the Red Sox to Oakland at the trade deadline in July and helped the As reach the playoffs for the third straight year before a 9-8, 12-inning loss to Kansas City in the AL wild-card game. He went 16-11 with a career-best 2.46 ERA and 220 strikeouts last season and is 116-67 with a 3.58 ERA in nine big league seasons.He also had been sought by the Red Sox, World Series champion San Francisco and the Los Angeles Dodgers.Lester is headed to a team that hasnt made the playoffs since 2008, but he knows Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer from their time together in Boston.ddddddddddddMaddon had been used to small payrolls in Tampa Bay.Ive not been on this side since my days with the Angels, when I got an email in Italy that we had signed Vladimir Guerrero, said Maddon, who was a coach in Anaheim before switching to Tampa Bay. I think that definitely sends that message how Theo and the group feel about this particular group. But understand, we have a lot of young players that have to grow up as quickly as possible. But having Jon there adds to the flavour and the possibility.The Cubs management is making over the team in a big way.Chicago has a pending $20 million, two-year deal with right-hander Jason Hammel, traded by the Cubs to Oakland last summer. Earlier Tuesday, the Cubs acquired All-Star catcher Miguel Montero from Arizona for minor league right-handers Jeferson Mejia and Zack Godley — a deal that added $40 million in payroll over the next three years.Chicagos rotation is likely to also include Jake Arrieta, Travis Wood, and Kyle Hendricks.The Cubs also have a pair of All-Stars in the batting order in first baseman Anthony Rizzo and shortstop Starlin Castro and expect improved performances from young sluggers Javier Baez and Jorge Soler. Ahead is another wave of prospects that includes third baseman Kris Bryant and shortstop Addison Russell.Maddon hopes an addition such as Lester helps change the mindset in the clubhouse when spring training starts in February.It definitely makes it more believable to everybody else in that room, he said. Ill stand up and make the same speech regardless, but when you have it backed up by that particular kind of presence, it adds to it.___AP Sports Writer Howie Rumberg contributed to this report. ' ' '