TORONTO -- Cory Rasmus needed time to appreciate the significance of his first appearance at Rogers Centre. Jusuf Nurkic Blazers Jersey . A rookie reliever with the Atlanta Braves last May, Rasmus left the mound angry after giving up a home run to Edwin Encarnacion and a double to his older brother, Blue Jays centre fielder Colby Rasmus, in an eventual 9-3 interleague loss for Atlanta. Now with the Los Angeles Angels, Cory is back in Toronto for a four-game set against Colbys Blue Jays. And one year later, the younger Rasmus (by 15 months) feels a lot different about his last outing at Rogers Centre. "To be honest with you, I didnt really get to enjoy the moment like I wish I would have, but to have an opportunity to come up here and maybe face him again is awesome," Cory Rasmus said hours before first pitch Friday. "Hopefully I can embrace it a little more and I wont be so uptight about everything, because looking back on it, it was awesome. Brothers dont get to face each other too often in the big leagues." Rasmus made his major league debut a week before the Toronto outing last year, and was traded to the Angels the following month. He finished the 2013 season with a 5.40 ERA through 21 2/3 innings. Since being called up by the Angels a week ago, the 26-year-old, whos endured three shoulder surgeries over the last seven years, has pitched two scoreless innings, giving up two hits and striking out one. With Colby Rasmus on a hot streak as well -- batting .391 with a .417 on-base percentage and .913 slugging percentage over the last seven days -- both brothers say theyre looking forward a possible rematch of last years at-bat. The two had breakfast together Friday morning, and younger brother Cyle, whos just finished his college career at Columbus State University, will be in the Rogers Centre stands taking in the action this weekend. Colby Rasmus says the playing field between him and Cory is a bit more even these days. "I didnt really like (facing him) a whole lot last year." he said. "Ive had the good fortune of hanging around the big leagues a bit longer and he was having struggles with his shoulder. Hed just been in the minor leagues, it wasnt really a fun time." Cory and Colby were always teammates throughout their childhood, playing together in the Little League World Series in 1999, and winning a State Championship with Russell County High School in Seale, Ala., in 2005. With that kind of history, Colby Rasmus admits its strange having Cory on the other side of the diamond. But hes glad to see his younger brother getting his shot in the big leagues. "Id love nothing more than to have him do well," he said. "Through everything weve been through, all the work we put in when we were younger ... for us to both be on the same big league field and have a chance to do this, its very special." Zach Collins Blazers Jersey . The win puts the final playoff berth in Group A in question. If the Czechs beat Slovakia on Tuesday, they will go through. If they lose, Germany will get the last quarter-final berth. Kent Bazemore Jersey .Y. - The New York Islanders are brimming with confidence these days, thanks to a standout goalie and a newfound winning attitude. https://www.blazerslockerroom.com/Skal-Labissiere-City-Edition-Jersey/ .Y. -- Phil Jackson lost out on his preferred coach, but hes working hard on keeping his star player.SALT LAKE CITY -- Alec Burks didnt feel like he needed to be Gordon Hayward. He just needed to be his best twisting, turning acrobatic self. "I didnt need to be anybody else, I just needed to be myself and be aggressive," said Burks, who scored a career-high 34 points to spark the Utah Jazz to a 118-103 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Monday night. Derrick Favors added 19 points and 15 rebounds while Trey Burke had 18 points for the Jazz, who won their fifth game in the last six home starts. Burks was filling in for Gordon Hayward, who sat out his second consecutive game after scoring a career-high 37 points -- including the last 17 -- in a win over Oklahoma City last Tuesday. The swingman strained his left hip flexor late in the game and his absence was apparent as Cleveland snapped Utahs four-game home winning streak on Friday, 113-102. But Burks made his presence felt from the start and had 17 in the first half to help the Jazz run out to a 67-53 lead, the highest first-half total for the Jazz this season. "I was just trying to get to the rim and put some pressure on them," Burks said. His teammates noticed his determination to get into the lane and that led to other open shots. "He came out and established himself from the get-go. He put a ton of pressure on their defence to collapse and try and stop him from scoring," Marvin Williams said. Ty Lawson had 23 points and J.J. Hickson scored 21 but the Nuggets trailed by as many as 24 points as they saw their improbable five-game winning streak come to an end. Burks wowed the crowd with a number of athletic drives to the hoop and several of his forays ended in a basket and a free throw. The Nuggets threw a number of defenders at the slippery Jazz guard but none could stay in front of him. "Some of the shots, I dont know how they went in. Alec said he missed a bunch of layups and I told him, You made a bunch of crazy layups." Richard Jefferson said. "His ability to finish in traffic and his size and the way he can handle the ball is unique." The third-year guard helped the Jazz score a season-high 64 points in the paint and kept his defenders on theeir heels. Anfernee Simons Jersey. "With more opportunity, I am a wiser player now," Burks said. "I know now what everybodys going to do now, how they are going to play defence against me." It was Burks most potent offensive performance since he posted his previous career-best of 31 points in Miami on Dec. 16. But that was in a blowout loss. Burks made 13 of his 19 field goal attempts as the Jazz shot nearly 56 per cent against the Nuggets, who seemed to be one step behind the Utah offence all night. "Defence for the most part tonight was non-existent," Denver coach Brian Shaw said. Favours powerful dunk sparked a 10-2 surge to push the advantage to 77-57, the second time in three games the Jazz have led by more than 20 after achieving that wide margin only once the rest of the season. The lead reached 89-65 after Jefferson made a 3-pointer midway through the third quarter. The 118 points Utah tallied was the second-most the Jazz have scored all season, just under the 122 they scored in a runaway win in Sacramento on Dec. 11. "They had a lot of solutions," said Evan Fournier, who had 16 points for Denver. The Nuggets got a taste of their own medicine after they averaged 119.6 points a contest during their five-game win streak. But the energy and defence and accuracy that aided the Nuggets roll were absent against Utah. "We made a ton of mistakes tonight, letting the ball get to the middle and allowing them to penetrate our paint," Shaw said. The Nuggets were 21 of 34 from the line and several misses prevented them from cutting the lead to single digits in the fourth quarter. Notes: In addition to long-term injuries to Danilo Gallinari (left knee) and JaVale McGee (left leg), the Nuggets were without reserve forwards Darrell Arthur (left groin) and Anthony Randolph (left ankle). Fellow reserve Wilson Chandler has been battling a left hip strain and missed Denvers previous two games but scored 12 points in his return. ... Hayward, who leads Utah in scoring at 17.1 points per game, is day to day and planned to accompany the team on its upcoming three-game road trip starting Wednesday in San Antonio. ' ' '