Matt Tierney - Raptors.com
Toronto (36-18) will look to keep the momentum going tonight when they visit the Knicks (24-33) at Madison Square Garden. The Raptors are trying to sweep a home and away back-to-back after they defeated Memphis last night at Air Canada Centre. New York last played Saturday when they beat the Timberwolves to snap a seven-game losing streak.
PLAYER TO WATCH
Kristaps Porzingis – The Knicks rookie has entered the league and immediately caused problems for opposing teams' defences. The number four overall pick in this past year’s draft has exceeded expectations and is averaging an impressive 14 points, eight rebounds and two blocks a night. Porzingis likes to be aggressive on the offensive glass so Toronto will have to put a body on him and look to limit second-chance points.
Cory Joseph</strong – The Pickering native has found a home back in Toronto. The Raptors point guard provides a nice scoring punch off the bench and is putting up career numbers in points, rebounds and assists. He has played especially well against the Knicks this season, averaging 12 points, seven rebounds and six assists in the two previous matchups. Look for Joseph to continue to be aggressive on the offensive end tonight.
MR. RAPTOR
June 25th, 2009 was the day the Toronto Raptors selected DeMar DeRozan with the ninth overall pick in the NBA Draft.
Toronto was coming off a 33-49 season and drafted the 6’7” shooting guard out of USC in the hopes of pairing him with Chris Bosh. But DeRozan found himself on a team looking for a new star after Bosh left during free agency the following year.
Dwane Casey was hired at the beginning of the 2011-12 season and DeRozan kept putting in work and his numbers improved year after year.
Fast forward to today and the team is coming off back-to-back playoff appearances and sits second in the Eastern Conference. DeRozan is now a two-time All-Star and, still only 26 years old, is the new face of the franchise.
With a victory tonight, DeRozan will become the winningest Raptor of all time, surpassing both Morris Peterson and Andrea Bargnani.
“I’ve got to beat both of them [laughing]. I kept seeing it on Twitter the last couple of days. That’s how I really knew. It’s a cool thing, honestly, just to be in the record books, and get an opportunity to continue growing with that. When I look back on how long I’ve been here, through the tough times, it’s really a great thing,” said DeRozan after he was asked about the record following Toronto's win over Memphis last night.
