Post Game Reaction: Raptors 92 Knicks 91

What a game! This felt like a playoff game as the Knicks let this one slip away to the Raptors 92-91. Early on the Knicks looked like the better team as they out-played the Raptors and were up as many as 17 points. This came down to the last few plays of the game, DeRozan hit the game-winner and Melo missed a wide-open three for the win. Lets break it down. 

A Tale of Two Halves. The Knicks and Raptors both looked like two different teams in the first and second halves. Lets start with the Knicks. They shot over 54% from the field in the first half and had a healthy lead of 17 points and led by 13 going into the half. In the second half it was a totally different story as the Knicks only made 13 field goals on 36 attempts, thats a shooting percentage of 36%. Due to this bad shooting they only scored 38 points, they also had 11 turnovers in the half. The Raptors defense had a lot to do with the Knicks struggles in the second half. They started locking them up and the Knicks offense just went stagnant.

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The Raptors on the other end really struggled in the first half, shooting 41% and missing all 9 three point shots. The second half was not much better as they shot 43% but only had 5 turnovers and due to their increase in intensity on defense, it was enough to pull-out this win. The other key was they made 7-17 threes in the second half, that really helped them out. Overall you could see the potential this Raptors teams has once Lowry get back because they can play some really good defense. 

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Box Score Stats. The Knicks were led by Melo with 24 pts on 9-26 from the field. They also got 16pts from Rose, 16pts from Lee and 12pts from Thomas. As usual the Knicks bench was a major issue. They really struggled to provide any relief for the starters. From the Raptors they were led by DeRozan with 37pts and got 15pts from Ibaka. This was a defensive game, so their was not much scoring going on for either team.  

3rd quarter woes. The difference in this game was the 3rd quarter. The Knicks made 4-16 from the field, with 7 turnovers. The Knicks got out-scored 23-14 and a lead that was 17 became a 4-point game. In the 3rd the Knicks offense got sloppy and some of it has to do with the Raptors picking up their defense. I also think after the Knicks showed some different things in the first half, the Raptors adjusted and the Knicks could not handle it. 

Crunch time. The Knicks are now 11-13 in close games. This came down to a few possessions. The Knicks made some good plays but just came up short. DeRozan hit a few tough shots, while the Knicks got key threes from Lee and Thomas. In the last 30 seconds, DeRozan hit a layup and a fadeaway shot, both giving the Raptors the lead. The Knicks got a three from Lee, that gave the Knicks lead with 10 seconds left but that was short lived as DeRozan hit another shot. With 1.9 seconds, down 1, Melo got a wide-open 3 and missed it badly. On replay you could see Melo was surprised how open he was, the Raptors totally lost him. Even with all that time, he some how over-shot it and nearly banked it in. Not sure if he meant to go glass as he was basically shooting straight on.  

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Overall the effort by the Knicks was very good. They did run into one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference. But this is another game that the Knicks played great but was all for nothing as they lost. More and more it looks like a lost season as the Knicks need to leap-frog four teams to get into the playoffs. It seems very unlikely. This team looks so good at some points and then go through stretched where they look horrible. Tonight the first 2 quarters they looked sharp and then the 3rd quarter was a mess. The Knicks next game is on Wednesday.