Knicks-Raptors Preview

By NICOLINO DIBENEDETTO
Posted Feb 14 2012 2:07AM

Amar'e Stoudemire left the New York Knicks last week after an unknown reserve named Jeremy Lin sparked a seemingly innocuous victory.

It's since turned into "Linsanity."

Stoudemire returns to the lineup Tuesday night for the Knicks, who hope to make it six straight wins when they face the struggling Toronto Raptors at Air Canada Centre.

Stoudemire spent the last week grieving the death of his older brother, Hazell, who was killed in a car crash. The star forward missed four games after scoring 17 points in a 99-92 win over New Jersey on Feb. 4, just the Knicks' third in 14 games.

That victory, however, has spurred a turnaround for New York (13-15) with Lin as the center piece. He emerged from the bench to score 25 points with seven assists against the Nets, a performance that prompted coach Mike D'Antoni to insert him into the lineup as the starting point guard.

Since then, it's been nothing short of hoopla, dubbed "Linsanity."

Lin, the reigning Eastern Conference player of the week, is averaging 26.8 points and 8.0 assists while leading the Knicks to five consecutive wins, their longest since a seven-game run from March 28-April 10. That's a colossal difference from Lin's 3.6 points per game and 1.9 assists in his first nine contests with New York, making him a bona fide fan favorite and national curiosity.

Now, there are growing questions of whether the Knicks' budding star will be able to produce upon the returns of Stoudemire and - especially - the injured Carmelo Anthony (groin).

D'Antoni calls the talk "ludicrous," and said Lin has given the Knicks a "spirit" and a "swagger" that they were lacking.

"You go into every game thinking you're going to win, and it changes everybody's mood," said D'Antoni, whose job was rumored to be on the line before Lin's breakout week.

Lin came up big again Saturday, drawing a foul and hitting a free throw with 5 seconds to go to put New York up for good in a 100-98 win at Minnesota. While Lin finished with 20 points and eight assists, he got considerable help from Iman Shumpert's 20 points and 19 from Landry Fields.

"It's been unbelievable," center Tyson Chandler said. "He's really changed the mindset and mentality of this team."

With Stoudemire back and Lin proving he can carry the load, the Knicks are staring at a chance to go back above .500 for the first time since they were 6-5 following a loss at Memphis on Jan. 12. Their next three games are against teams with losing records, hosting Sacramento on Wednesday and New Orleans on Friday after their visit to Toronto (9-20).

Stoudemire is averaging 29.3 points and 12.0 rebounds in his last three games against the Raptors. He missed the most recent matchup on Jan. 2 due to an ankle injury, and Lin didn't get off the bench in a 90-85 home loss.

New York has won its last two games at Toronto.

The Raptors have dropped two of the first three games on their seven-game homestand, falling 94-92 to the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday.

Jose Calderon will likely find himself matched up against Lin at the point, and he's hoping to build on his own dazzling performance. The guard had a career-high 30 points and six assists while hitting 13 of 18 from the field, including all four 3-pointers, against the Lakers.

He's averaging 13.2 points in 12 home games, but was limited to nine while dishing out 12 assists against the Knicks last month.

DeMar DeRozan had 21 points in that meeting after scoring 36 in a 131-118 loss in New York on April 5.

Lin hits game-winner as Knicks beat Raptors

Posted Feb 14 2012 11:33PM

TORONTO (AP) Even after his amazing week, this one took Linsanity to a whole new level. Against Toronto on Tuesday, it was Lin for the win!

Knicks sensation Jeremy Lin made a tiebreaking 3-pointer with less than a second to play to cap his finishing flurry of six straight points and New York rallied to beat the Raptors 90-87, extending its winning streak to six games.

"I'm just glad it went like this so we can calm the Linsanity down," cracked Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni.

No chance of that. The NBA's first American-Taiwanese player, Lin scored 27 points and added a career-high 11 assists in his first game since being named Eastern Conference player of the week.

"He continues to impress every night," New York's Jared Jeffries said. "Every game he plays better, he does more and more to help us win basketball games. You can't ask any more of a kid coming into this situation."

While he's the one standing in the spotlight, Lin said sharing success with his teammates is as big a reward.

"It's not because of me, it's because we're coming together as a team," Lin said. "We started making these steps earlier but we were still losing close games and so obviously it wasn't fun. But when you win, that solves a lot of problems. We've been winning and we've been playing together."

Making just his fifth career start, Lin had no hesitation in taking the decisive shot.

"I'm thankful that the coach and my teammates trust me with the ball at the end of the game," he said. "I like having it at the end of the game. I'm just very thankful."

The season-high crowd of 20,092 roared as Lin shot over Jose Calderon and drained a pull-up jumper from the top with half a second to play, giving the Knicks their first lead since the opening quarter.

D'Antoni declined to call timeout before Lin's winning shot, saying it would only give the Raptors time to draw up their defense. Even so, D'Antoni was impressed with the calm and confidence Lin showed in letting the clock run down.

"You just watch and you're in awe," D'Antoni said. "He held it until five tenths of a second left. He was pretty confident that was going in, no rebounds, no nothing. That ball was being buried."

Toronto's Rasual Butler airballed his attempt at the buzzer as the Knicks swarmed their newest hero at center court.

"The kid made a great shot," Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. "(Calderon) had to give him space or he was going to give up a driving path and (Lin) made a tough shot."

But Casey was left steamed at his team's failure to hold a lead, especially after the Raptors made nine turnovers in the final quarter.

"It should not have come to (Lin's) play," Casey said. "We had some many boneheaded plays to get to that play and to make that play relevant. We should have taken care of business before that."

Amare Stoudemire returned from a four-game absence with 21 points and Tyson Chandler had 13 for New York.

Calderon scored 25 points, Linas Kleiza had 15 points and 11 rebounds, and DeMar DeRozan scored 14 for the Raptors.

Up 75-66 to start the fourth, Toronto widened its lead with a three-point play by Barbosa before the Knicks stormed back with a 10-0 run, cutting it to 78-76 and forcing the Raptors to call timeout with 6:22 remaining.

Kleiza stopped the run with a driving layup, Amir Johnson added a hook shot and, after Lin made one of two from the line, Barbosa's layup made it 84-77 with 4:49 to go.

Toronto led 87-82 with less than two minutes to go when Iman Shumpert stole the ball from Calderon and drove in for an uncontested dunk. After a missed shot, Lin completed a three-point play, tying it at 87 with 1:05 left.

Barbosa missed a 3 for Toronto and, at the other end, Shumpert missed a jumper but Chandler grabbed the rebound. Lin took the ball near midcourt and let the clock run down to 5 seconds before driving and pulling up against Calderon to launch the decisive shot, touching off the latest instance of Linsanity.

"(Calderon) was trying to push me left," Lin said. "He was giving me a little bit of space. I just tried to take it down as low as I could. I figured it's probably not going to be possible to get to the basket with the help that they had."

Calderon was surprised to see Lin pull up for the game-winner.

"I thought he was going to drive," Calderon said. "That's why I tried to give him his left hand but he made a great shot."

Calderon was held scoreless in the final quarter, with D'Antoni crediting Shumpert for keeping the Toronto guard in check.

"He did a great job," D'Antoni said. "Shump got on Calderon and changed up everything."

The Raptors had a photo of Lin on their team website in the hours before the game, and his visit generated major interest among Toronto's Asian community, estimated at over 280,000 people, or more than 11 percent of the local population. The Chinese Canadian Youth Athletics Association and the Taiwanese Canadian Association of Toronto both sent groups of almost 300 fans as Toronto sold out for the second time in 13 home games. One group of fans in the upper deck wore white T-shirts spelling out his name.

Not all the fans were so positive: Lin was booed several times throughout the game.

Local media also took note; some 75 reporters and 16 cameras packed a Tuesday morning press conference to hear Lin speak, with dozens more turned away to prevent overcrowding. More than 25 Chinese Canadian journalists were due to cover the game, including one who presented Lin with a book of "Year of the Dragon" stamps from Canada Post and asked him to record a message in Mandarin, which he did.

Even D'Antoni was shocked by the size of the throng upon walking in Tuesday morning for his turn at the microphone.

"Are we in the playoffs now?" D'Antoni joked as he made his way to the front of the room.

It was Calderon, coming off a career-high 30 points in Sunday's loss to the Lakers, who was hot early, scoring 12 points in the first as the Raptors led 28-21 after one. Lin missed his first shot and didn't score until a driving layup with 3:46 left in the first. He had four points and four assists in the opening quarter.

Lin turned the ball over on three straight possessions early in the second and Toronto took advantage with a 6-0 run, widening its lead to 13 points. He also missed a running bank shot as the half ended as the Raptors took a 47-36 lead into the break.

Stoudemire scored seven points and Lin had six points and four assists as the Knicks scored 30 points in the third, but still trailed 75-66 heading into the fourth.

NOTES: Lin matched a career high with eight turnovers. ... Stoudemire returned after missing the past four games following the death of his older brother, Hazell, who was killed in a car crash. ... Raptors G Jerryd Bayless (left ankle) missed his third straight game. Casey said Bayless could be available for Wednesday's game against San Antonio. ... Before the game, Chandler presented Casey with his NBA championship ring. Both were with Dallas last season when they beat Miami. ... Carmelo Anthony (right groin) missed his fourth straight game. ... New York's 17-point comeback was the biggest by a Toronto opponent this season. ... Musician and actor Steven Van Zandt watched from a courtside seat.

Notebook: Knicks 90, Raptors 87

Posted Tuesday February 14, 2012 11:42PM

By Duane Watson, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: The New York Knicks (14-15) defeated the Toronto Raptors (9-21) 90-87 at the Air Canada Centre Tuesday night, extending their winning streak to 6 games. Linsanity continued as the Eastern Conference player of the week Jeremy Lin nailed a game winning 3-point shot with .9 seconds left. Lin had a game high 27 points and 11 assists and Amar'e Stoudemire added 21 points and 8 rebounds in his first game back in the lineup.

While the Raptors lead was a big as 17 points the Knicks clawed back, entering the fourth quarter down only 75-66. Lin tied the game 87-87 with a three-point play with 1:05 left. Leandro Barbosa missed a 3-point shot on the Raptors possession and Iman Shumpert's missed bank shot with 20.8 seconds on the clock gave the Raptors hope for another opportunity until Tyson Chandler pulled down his 3rd offensive rebound of the game, giving the Knicks the last possession of the game. Lin waited above the 3-point line in the middle of the court as the clock wound down and took a pull-up 3 pointer, making it 90-87. Rasual Butler's last second shot had nothing and the Raptors suffered their ninth home loss of the season. The Knicks went on a 13-1 run to close the game.

For the Raptors, Jose Calderon scored 25 points with 9 assists, Linas Kleiza had 15 points and 11 rebounds off the bench and DeMar DeRozan chipped in 14 points.

QUOTABLE: "I'm not really thinking too much about that, thankful my coach and my teammates trust me with the ball at the end of the game. I like having it at the end of the game, I'm just very thankful."
-- Knicks guard Lin on having the ball in his hands at the end of the game.

THE STAT: 12 points. That is the total points the Raptors scored in the fourth quarter and that's exactly how many points Lin scored in the fourth quarter. Lin was plagued with turnovers throughout the night (8) but peaked at precisely the right time.

TURNING POINT: Shumpert played lock down defense on Calderon throughout the fourth quarter and made an open court steal with 1:31 on the clock and took it the length of the floor for a dunk to bring the Knicks within three points, 87-84. After that, it was all New York.

QUOTABLE II: "I'm glad it went like this so we calm the 'Linsanity' down a little bit."
-- Knicks head coach Mike D'Antoni

NOT: Amar'e Stoudemire returned to the Knicks lineup after missing four games grieving the death of his brother. He showed some signs of rust going 2 for 9 from the field for 8 points and 3 rebounds in the first half where the Knicks were down 47-36.

GOOD MOVE: After Calderon went off for 23 points against the Knicks during the first three quarters, D'Antoni assigned Shumpert to cover the point guard for the last two minutes and the remainder of the game. Calderon had much more trouble getting it going and only attempted 2 shots which both missed.

BAD MOVE: On the last play of the game Calderon played off of Lin giving him extra space. As Lin was driving by Calderon all night, it wasn't necessarily a bad adjustment, but with the space and the clock winding down, he was nowhere near able to contest Lin's game winning shot.

NOTABLE: Before tip off Chandler presented Raptors head coach Dwane Casey with his World Championship ring, both were part of the Dallas Mavericks last year. ... It was Asian Heritage Night at the Air Canada Centre tonight. ... he Knicks are 31-32 against the Raptors. ... The Knicks have won six in a row and three straight on the road. ... This is the Knicks first six game winning streak since Mar. 28 - April 10, 2011 when the won seven in a row. ... New York's 17 point comeback was the largest by a Toronto opponent all season. ... Toronto is 1-3 on its current seven game homestand.

UP NEXT: Toronto's home stand continues Wednesday vs. San Antonio, Friday vs. Charlotte, Wednesday vs. Detroit. For New York they return home on Wednesday vs. Sacramento, Friday vs. New Orleans and Sunday vs. Dallas.

• Knicks: Davis, Harrellson
• Raptors: Bargnani, Bayless

• Knicks: --
• Raptors: --

• Lead Changes: 5
• Times Tied: 1

• Arena: Air Canada Centre, Toronto, ON
• Officials: #24 Mike Callahan, #18 Matt Boland, #70 Brent Barnaky
• Attendance: 20092
• Duration: 2:26