Knicks-Raptors Preview

By NOEY KUPCHAN
Posted Mar 22 2012 6:58PM

A change at the top appears to have made a world of difference for the surging New York Knicks, who have their sights set on the Atlantic Division crown.

Another matchup with the lowly Toronto Raptors could help them inch closer to ultimately climbing into first place.

Looking to improve to 6-0 under interim coach Mike Woodson, the visiting Knicks also seek a seventh win in eight meetings with the Raptors as the teams meet for the second time in four days Friday night.

Woodson, who was promoted following former coach Mike D'Antoni's resignation last week, has New York (23-24) clicking on all cylinders. While the Knicks have averaged 105.2 points - well above their season mark of 97.6 - in winning all five games since Woodson took over, their defense has also really stood out.

New York has surrendered just 86.6 points per contest during its run and produced another stringy effort during Wednesday's 82-79 win at division-leading Philadelphia. The third-place Knicks, who were seven games in back of the 76ers a little over a week ago, moved within three thanks to a 47-39 rebounding edge and holding them to 38.7 percent shooting.

"From a coaching standpoint, I was sweating," said Woodson, whose team now owns the head-to-head tiebreaker with Philadelphia. "But I've learned that our guys are not going to buckle. I honestly believe that they think they can win every game now when they step out on the floor. I have to keep pushing them to play at a high level.

"If we continue to play at the pace we're playing we've got a legitimate shot to move up."

A visit to the Air Canada Centre could help them just do that. New York, which cruised to a 106-87 win over Toronto (15-32) on Tuesday, has taken six of seven in the series - including three straight on the road by an average of 8.3 points.

"They're a tenacious, different team," Raptors coach Dwane Casey said following Tuesday's loss. "It's amazing, their tenacity, the way they attack. If you don't meet it, they take you out."

Toronto suffered its third straight defeat Wednesday, falling 94-82 to short-handed Chicago. Despite playing without reigning MVP Derrick Rose, the Bulls shot 50.0 percent from the field and outscored the Raptors 32-13 over the final 12 minutes, erasing a 12-point deficit. Opponents are shooting 50.7 percent from the field versus Toronto during its last four games.

"They know what they have to do (down the stretch) and we have to be the same way," said DeMar DeRozan, who scored 23 points. "We have to be able to lock down on defense even if we aren't making shots."

James Johnson was the only other player to score in double figures with 16 points, and Andrea Bargnani was held to eight as he went 2 of 10 from the field.

Bargnani averaged 23.5 points over his first 13 games of the season but has compiled just 12.5 per contest on 33.7 percent shooting over an eight-game stretch since returning from a calf injury.

"Offensively, I'm playing bad. That's it," Bargnani said. "I'm trying to do other stuff, play defense, make an extra pass. The injury's fine. I'm (just) playing really bad offensively."

In addition to Bargnani's recent struggles, an injury to Jerryd Bayless hasn't made things any easier on Toronto. Averaging 14.3 points this month, Bayless suffered a hip pointer in the second half Tuesday against the Knicks and played less than two minutes versus the Bulls. He is listed as day-to-day and uncertain to be available.

DeRozan scores 30 as Raptors cruise past Knicks

Posted Mar 23 2012 11:13PM

TORONTO (AP) Raptors coach Dwane Casey came up with just the thing to slow down the surging New York Knicks: a zone.

DeMar DeRozan scored 30 points before leaving with a sore left ankle, Andrea Bargnani had 21 and the Raptors routed the Knicks 96-79 Friday night, snapping New York's five-game winning streak.

"The zone knocked us on our heels," Knicks center Tyson Chandler said. "We had trouble finding ways to score against it and that really was the outcome because we never got a rhythm or momentum."

Chandler said Toronto's zone was similar to the one he played under Casey when both were with Dallas during last season's championship run.

"It's designed to force you to take jump shots and we kind of fell into the trap," Chandler said.

The results weren't pretty. New York shot just 32 for 85 (38 percent) and no Knicks player made more than six field goals.

"Everybody struggled to make shots, and I mean wide-open shots," New York coach Mike Woodson said. "I thought we moved the ball but we just couldn't make shots and defensively we couldn't get stops. That's a bad combination."

The Raptors, who had lost seven of 10 coming in, never trailed and led by as many as 22, avenging a 106-87 loss at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday.

"That was good to see, especially after the spanking they put on us down in New York," Casey said. "I was really proud of the way our guys came out."

Losing for the first time in six games since replacing Mike D'Antoni, Woodson didn't feel the same way about his team's effort.

"I just didn't see energy tonight," Woodson said. "We were a step slow from the very beginning. We've got to play at a much higher level than we did tonight."

Gary Forbes scored 19 points, one shy of his career-high, and Jose Calderon had 10 assists as Toronto snapped a three-game skid. Forbes said the Raptors "played with a chip on our shoulder."

"They kicked out butt in New York," said Forbes, who scored 14 in the final quarter. "Coach reiterated how we got punked and had to come in here and protect our home court."

DeRozan fell hard after a collision with Calderon with 2:59 left, then got up and hobbled straight to the locker room. Afterward, however, he said the injury wasn't as serious as it looked.

"I came down and tweaked my ankle a little bit," DeRozan said. "It was just a little scare. It's a little sore right now and I just had it treated, try to get it ready for the game (at Chicago on Saturday night)."

Amare Stoudemire scored 17 points, Steve Novak had 15 and Carmelo Anthony 12 for the Knicks, who came in having won six of seven against the Raptors, including three straight in Toronto.

Jeremy Lin made a game-winning 3-pointer on New York's last visit to Toronto, a 90-87 victory on Feb. 14, but was held in check this time, finishing with six points. Hundreds of fans cheered Lin with signs and Taiwanese flags, but many in the crowd booed whenever he touched the ball.

Lin had as much trouble with the zone as his teammates.

"We didn't necessarily attack as much as we should have," he said. "It's something we really don't have a lot of plays for, so we kind of just float around the outside and end up settling for a lot of jumpers."

Trailing by 17 to start the fourth, the Knicks opened with a 7-0 run, including a three-point play by J.R. Smith and a 3 from Novak. Forbes stopped the run with a pair of baskets before Novak added another 3.

The Knicks scored just one basket in the next 4 minutes as Toronto surged ahead. Bargnani and DeRozan had consecutive dunks, forcing a New York timeout. After the stoppage, DeRozan dunked off Forbes' alley-oop off the glass before Forbes forced a steal and drove in for a layup, making it 86-65 with 4:54 left.

Tempers nearly flared in the first after Bargnani leveled Lin with a screen and Anthony responded by hauling down Calderon on a drive to the basket. Calderon got up yelling, and Raptors center Aaron Gray gave Anthony a hard shove. Both Gray and Anthony got technicals, while Bargnani was whistled for an offensive foul.

More words were exchanged in the tunnel as the teams left the court after the final buzzer, but Chandler downplayed the incident.

"That kind of happens," he said. "You get edgy sometimes when you lose a game you felt like you were supposed to win. Emotions run high."

Bargnani and DeRozan each scored nine in the first and Anthony shot just 2 for 7 as Toronto led 25-16 after one period.

Novak hit a 3 at the halftime buzzer but the Raptors, who did not trail in the first two quarters, took a 39-36 lead into the locker room.

DeRozan scored 14 points in the third, two on an impressive alley-oop from James Johnson and two more on a rebound and jumper with less than two seconds left, as the Raptors took a 70-53 lead into the fourth.

NOTES: Stoudemire wore a gray hoodie during early warmups, a sign of support for the family of Florida shooting victim Trayvon Martin. ... Chandler led New York with 11 rebounds. ... New York made 22 turnovers, leading to 22 Toronto points. ... Knicks F Jared Jeffries, who left Wednesday's win at Philadelphia with a sore left knee, is expected to undergo an MRI Saturday morning, and will likely miss that evening's game against Detroit. ... Raptors G Jerryd Bayless (left hip) did not play. Casey said Bayless will probably sit out Saturday's game at Chicago. ... Toronto waived F Rasual Butler earlier Friday. Butler had not played in eight games. ... For the first time in franchise history, a Raptors game was broadcast in Mandarin. Former Chinese Olympic basketball player Weiping Zhang handled play-by-play duties for the national broadcast on OMNI, a Canadian multicultural station.

Notebook: Raptors 96, Knicks 79

Posted Friday March 23, 2012 11:58PM

By Duane Watson, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: The Toronto Raptors (16-32) defeated the New York Knicks (23-25) 96-79 halting a three game losing streak on Friday at the Air Canada Centre. The Knicks were looking to win their sixth game in a row after beating the Raptors at home 106-87 as recently as Tuesday. But with DeMar DeRozan scoring a game high 30 points, Andrea Bargnani adding 21 points and Gary Forbes with 19 points off the bench they never gave up the lead and stretched it as high as 22 points.

New York struggled offensively all game, shooting .376 from the field (32-for-85) and .179 from the 3-point line on 5-for-28 shooting and also added 22 turnovers for their efforts. Amar'e Stoudemire led the Knicks with 17 points, Steve Novak had 15 and Carmelo Anthony added 12 points and 9 rebounds. The Knicks were ineffective from the opening tip and the Raptors didn't give them a chance to get back in the game, clinching their 8th home win of the season.

QUOTABLE: "We definitely got 'DeBo'd' a little bit in New York and that's not the team we are. Today we just wanted to play one quarter at a time and win every quarter and we succeeded."
-- Raptors forward James Johnson

THE STAT: The Knicks are second worst in the league averaging 16.3 per game. They committed 22 Friday night offering up 22 Raptors points off of those turnovers. The Knicks starters gave up 15 turnovers as opposed to a Raptors team that gave up 17.

TURNING POINT: While the Raptors never trailed in the game and led 70-53 after three quarters, the Knicks started the fourth quarter on 7-0 run bringing the margin to 10 points. DeRozan's emphatic baseline dunk with 5:56 made the score 82-65 putting the Raptors up 17 points, a margin that would be securely held for the remainder of the game.

QUOTABLE II: "I just think it was one of those games where scheduling and fatigue caught up with us. We just looked flat including myself. Everybody out there just looke a little fatigued."
-- Knicks center Tyson Chandler

HOT: DeRozan went for 14 points in the 3rd quarter shooting 5-for-6 and sparking a 17-2 run to give the Raptors a 19 point lead, they're biggest of the game at that point. DeRozan scored 30 in the game before subbing himself out after tweaking his ankle with 2:59 left. He has averaged 20.4 points over his last 5 games.

NOT: Both teams tie here with an atrocious first half. The Knicks shot .355 from the field on 16-for-45 shooting, 1-for-9 shooting from 3-point line in addition to 10 turnovers. The Raptors went .333 from the field on 15-for-45 shooting, 1-for-11 from the 3-point line with 9 turnovers. Unfortunately, someone had to take the lead into halftime and it was the Raptors 39-36.

GOOD MOVE: With Raptors guard Anthony Carter recently waived and Jerryd Bayless out with a hip pointer, Raptors head coach Dwane Casey played seldom used guard Forbes. He stepped up with the new found court time scoring 17 points and 6 rebounds and 2 assists, particularly being effective in the Raptors second half when they put the game away.

NOTABLE: Toronto and New York split the season series 2-2... The Raptors shot .605 (23-38) from the floor in the final two quarters... The Raptors improve to 9-4 this season when holding opponents under 40 per cent shooting from the floor and 15-10 when shooting a better percentage than their opponent... Toronto shot a season low .077 (1-for-13) from three-point range... Knicks forward Jared Jeffries (knee) was not in the lineup.

UP NEXT: The Raptors are @ Chicago on Saturday and then return home vs. Orlando on Monday and Wednesday vs. Denver. The Knicks return home vs. Detroit on Saturday, vs. Milwaukee on Monday and Wednesday vs. Orlando.

• Knicks: Jeffries, Walker
• Raptors: --

• Knicks: Anthony, Davis
• Raptors: Gray

• Lead Changes: 0
• Times Tied: 0

• Arena: Air Canada Centre, Toronto, ON
• Officials: #24 Mike Callahan, #70 Brent Barnaky, #29 Mark Lindsay
• Attendance: 19800
• Duration: 2:17