TORONTO (AP) Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri let loose a profanity about the Brooklyn Nets during a pregame address meant to pump up a group of fans outside Air Canada Centre before Saturday's opening game of the NBA playoffs.

Several hundred fans gathered outside the downtown arena for a party and to watch the game on a huge screen above the west entrance.

Ujiri, the NBA's reigning executive of the year, apologized in a brief news conference at halftime, saying he'd made the "wrong choice of words" and was "just trying to get our fans going."