By Kenneth Teape (@teapester725)
Saturday, December 28th, 2013
New York Knicks vs. Toronto Raptors
Pre-Game News and Notes
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| Steve Mitchell/AP Photo |
The Knicks will look to salvage the
home-and-home with the Toronto Raptors tonight after losing 95-83 Friday night.
This game is of the utmost importance for the Knicks as they need to start
mounting some division wins if they plan to take advantage of what is the worst
division in sports. Here are some things to keep an eye on in the game tonight.
-Injury News and Updates
The Knicks will have to find a way to
score once again without Carmelo Anthony. Anthony will miss his third straight
game, as he did not even make the trip to Toronto with the team. Anthony’s
ankle injury has proved too much for him to take the court for the better part
of the last week. Anthony will be sorely missed as they have been outscored by
an average of 20.5 points per game without their leading scorer.
Anthony is not the only player who is
dealing with injuries as Iman Shumpert is battling a thigh injury. He fought
through it last night but he is questionable tonight as he did not perform well
Friday. Amar’e Stoudemire also is struggling with some swelling in his right
wrist the past two games but is supposed to be ready to go Saturday.
For the Raptors we will see if former
Knicks Steve Novak and Landry Fields will take the court against them tonight. Neither
player received any minutes Friday night, and have not for the last seven
games; since the trade with the Sacramento Kings that sent out Rudy Gay the
Raptors have been using their new, higher ceiling players in Patrick Patterson,
Greivis Vasquez and John Salmons.
-Bargnani Returns to Toronto
Andrea Bargnani will be making his first
return to Toronto since the trade this offseason that landed him with the
Knicks. Bargnani had a tumultuous tenure with the Raptors after being the first
overall pick in 2006; a combination of injuries and poor player caused the fans
to turn on him and Bargnani crumble under the pressure of being a top pick.
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| AP Photo |
Bargnani can expect a rude welcoming
when he takes the court Saturday night as the fans grew tired of Bargnani the
longer he was there. On the other hand he may receive the greatest ovation of
any player this season in Toronto as the Raptor faithful are happy that he is
gone.
The biggest slap in the face Bargnani
can give the Raptors is him playing well and leading the Knicks to a victory.
With Anthony out the Knicks need someone to carry the scoring load and Bargnani
should be the man; he will be as motivated as ever to show the crowd in Toronto
he was worth the first overall draft pick they used on him.
-Matchup of the Game: JR Smith vs. DeMar
DeRozan
Without Anthony the Knicks need Smith to
pick up some of the scoring slack left behind; he is capable of it but how he
gets the points will be the thing to keep an eye on. Friday night Smith and
DeRozan matched up and had similar shooting nights; Smith was 7-15 and DeRozan
7-13. But there was an eight point difference in points as DeRozan took
permanent residency at the free throw line, taking 14 attempts. Smith on the
other hand only had two.
Smith has been better recently
facilitating the offense but needs to stay aggressive when he is looking to
score the basketball. Smith was at his best last season when he was attacking
the basket and getting to the foul line. Smith and the rest of the wing players
also have to step up the effort on the defensive end as DeRozan and John
Salmons hurt the Knicks Friday night from the perimeter.
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