The Toronto Raptors escaped Madison Square Garden with a 95-90 overtime victory against the New York Knicks. It was an ugly win for the Raptors who faced a Knicks team that featured a pair former Toronto players — Jose Calderon and Quincy Acy. The Knicks are an abysmal 5-21 while the Raptors improved to 18-6 this season.
Early in the game Jonas Valanciunas and Terrence Ross both picked up two fouls and were pulled from the game to ensure they did not get into any further foul trouble.
However it was also the whole team that had a tough time defending the Knicks without fouling. The Raptors were lacking defensive intensity in the game and committed a lot of potentially questionable fouls early on.
So far this season the Knicks have struggled and there was one play which pretty much summed up their entire season. Former Raptor Quincy Acy elevated and attempted to throw down a ferocious jam which rattled around the rim and popped out.
The Knicks’ subpar performance this year has subdued the crowd at Madison Square Garden. Throughout the game the broadcast alluded to the fact that the Garden seemed quiet and didn’t have its usual buzz.
With Knicks’ fans lulled to sleep, the #WeTheNorth nation invaded New York to support the Raptors. As they have done in Cleveland and Los Angeles this season, the fans entered an opponents arena and became the dominant voice cheering on the Raptors on the road.
Despite the fan support on the road, Toronto struggled in the game. They lacked effort on the defensive end and committed a lot of turnovers which allowed the lowly Knicks to stick around in the game.
A very interesting matchup heading into the game was the battle between former teammates Kyle Lowry and Jose Calderon. The two point guards went at each other on both ends of the floor although it was Lowry who won the matchup.
He finished with 21 points and 11 assists in the game for his seventh double-double. However he committed a season high 9 turnovers in the game which was uncharacteristic of him as he is only averaging 2.1 turnovers per game this season. Lowry is also the only player who is averaging more than 20+ points and 10+ assists in the month of December. So far he has an average of 21 points per game and 10.1 assists per game this month.
After falling into early foul trouble, Ross returned to the game and played extremely well. He had two huge fastbreak jams which electrified the Raptors’ fans at Madison Square Garden. He also did a great job in the second half scoring 13 of his 22 points in the third quarter.
Ross made some important buckets in the fourth quarter of a close game. The Raptors were ahead by two points with under a minute remaining when Carmelo Anthony drove past Patrick Patterson for a game tying lefty layup. The Raptors had two chances to win it at the end of the game, but could not convert the chances which sent the game to overtime tied 86-86.
Patterson started off the extra period with a three pointer and the Raptors didn’t look back. Toronto survived the scare from the Knicks and improved to a perfect 3-0 against the Atlantic Division this year.
Up next they take on the Orlando Magic in the second game of a back-to-back. The Raptors will look for their third win over the Magic this season as they return home to the Air Canada Centre for Monday night’s game.
EZ Bucket 