Knicks at Raptors
The New York Knicks battled down to the wire but could not manage to pull out a victory without their star player on Tuesday. The Knicks hope to have Carmelo Anthony (knee) back on Thursday, when they attempt to prevent the host Toronto Raptors from setting a franchise record with their 10th consecutive victory.
New York fell 128-122 in overtime to the Oklahoma City Thunder to drop to 0-5 with Anthony out of the lineup this season, and it has lost three in a row overall. The Knicks failed to reach 90 points in either of the first two losses but got 16 points from Lance Thomas starting in Anthony’s place on Tuesday while Derrick Williams (19 points, 10 rebounds) and Langston Galloway (21 points) led a solid effort from the supporting cast. The Raptors have held opponents to 95 points or fewer in six of the last nine games and limited the Washington Wizards to 39 second-half points in Tuesday’s 106-89 triumph. “I'm trying to tell (the players) enjoy this, enjoy this,'' Raptors coach Dwane Casey told reporters. “You hear all this, 'Well let's see what they do in the playoffs.' You'd better enjoy this right now because tomorrow's not promised to any of us, so let's enjoy some of the good times and some of the small victories we have.”
TV: 8 p.m. ET, TNT, TSN (Toronto)
ABOUT THE KNICKS (22-25): Anthony is expected to be back in the lineup on Thursday, pushing Thomas back to the bench. Thomas had missed the previous three games with his own knee injury but went 5-of-7 from the field in 41 minutes in place of Anthony before fouling out late and is 12-of-20 from the floor in his last three games. Galloway logged 33 minutes off the bench on Tuesday and is taking more and more playing time away from starter Jose Calderon, who managed six points in 21 minutes against Oklahoma City.
ABOUT THE RAPTORS (30-15): The only downside to matching the record winning streak set by the 2001-02 squad came in the fourth quarter on Tuesday, when All-Star starter Kyle Lowry left the game with an apparent hand injury. X-rays came back negative and Lowry, who led the way with 29 points before leaving the game, was diagnosed with a sprained left (non-shooting) wrist. Backup point guard Cory Joseph is averaging 11 points on 10-of-15 shooting in the last two games and can pick up more of the slack if Lowry takes any time off to rest.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Raptors C Jonas Valanciunas is averaging 14 points and 9.9 rebounds during the winning streak.
2. Knicks G Arron Afflalo is 10-of-36 from the floor in the last three games.
3. Anthony scored 25 points and Thomas added 17 as New York earned a 111-109 win at Toronto on Nov. 10.