Toronto Raptors vs New York Knicks Feb.24/08

ack-to-back defeats wasn't an option for the Toronto Raptors.

Andrea Bargnani scored 25 points to lead the Raptors to a 115-92 win over New York on Sunday, two days after a loss to the Knicks at Madison Square Garden.

Chris Bosh added 17 points to give Sam Mitchell a victory in his 300th game as the Raptors' head coach. Anthony Parker had 16 points, while T.J. Ford had 15 and newcomer Primoz Brezec finished with 11 for Toronto (30-24).

Jamal Crawford had 26 points to top the Knicks (17-39), while Nate Robinson added 20.

Two nights earlier in the New York, Crawford scorched the Raptors with a 43-point performance, leading the Knicks to a come-from-behind 103-99 win.

But rather than coming out red-hot for revenge on Sunday, the Raptors looked a little lackadaisical in the early going, their biggest first-half lead being just eight points.

The Raptors broke the game open in the third, racing out on an 18-3 run to take a 17-point lead. They would stretch their advantage to 20 points late in the quarter before heading into the fourth up 84-67 in front of a capacity crowd of 19,800 at the Air Canada Centre.

The Knicks showed some life _ albeit briefly _ in the fourth, cutting Toronto's lead to 11 with 10 minutes left, but it was all Raptors the rest of the way. Ford scored seven straight points in the dying minutes to put Toronto up by 23, and then Mitchell went to his bench with about three minutes to go, wrapping up a relatively easy night for the Raptors.

Brezec made his Raptors debut. The seven-foot-one Slovenian centre, acquired in Thursday's trade with Detroit for guard Juan Dixon, played 13 energetic minutes and went a perfect 5-for-5 from the field.

The Raptors shot 49 per cent on the night, and held the Knicks to 38 per cent. They also dominated the boards, outrebounding New York 51-36.

Bargnani led the way with 10 points in the first quarter, his jump shot with 33 seconds left putting Toronto up by seven points. A three by Quentin Richardson cut Toronto's lead with 27-23 heading into the second.

With Bosh on the bench with a pair of fouls, the Knicks cut Toronto's lead to a point late in the second on a fadeaway jumper by Robinson. The Raptors led just 54-52 at halftime.

The Raptors outscored the Knicks 30-15 in the third, a jump shot by Parker with two minutes left in the quarter putting Toronto ahead by 20, the biggest lead in the game to that point.

NOTES: At one point, the Raptors had players from five different countries on the floor at the same time _ Spain (Calderon), Italy (Bargnani), Argentina (Delfino), Slovenia (Brezec) and the U.S. (Parker). . Mitchell is 137-163 in his three-and-a-half seasons coaching Toronto. . . The Raptors' sellout was their 21st this season. . . The Raptors are at Indiana on Monday and back home to host the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday. The Pacers visit Toronto on Friday.

Category:

Sports

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• Toronto
• Raptors
• vs
• New
• York
• Knicks
• Feb.24/08

[MTRocksMySox]

I was at that game :)

[k9k8k7k6k5k4k321]

ok ya sometimes but sometimes they are really good!

[k9k8k7k6k5k4k321]

ok ya sometimes but sometimes they are really good!

[FlamesXT10]

yea

[k9k8k7k6k5k4k321]

well i gess but sometimes they are amazing!

[k9k8k7k6k5k4k321]

well i gess but sometimes they are amazing!

[FlamesXT10]

nope, they suck sometimes

[k9k8k7k6k5k4k321]

naaa!!thery are actually the best its just the youtube thing

[lunn3r]

would be doing better than Nazr Mohammed

[lunn3r]

he should start, but rashos been doin pretty good as of latley, and so has HUMPHRIES! holy