Courtesy of last night’s fourth quarter comeback, the Toronto Raptors continued their winning ways on the road, emerging victorious over the New York Knicks by a score of 95-83.
Now, the 12-15 Raptors will go up against the Knicks yet again; this time at the ACC. Tonight’s matchup will close out the home-and-home set between the two teams who will not meet again until April 11, so it should be somewhat of a statement game played in front of Toronto’s crowd. Though Carmelo Anthony, Raymond Felton, and Pablo Prigioni will be sitting out yet again, the Raptors should not take their foot off the pedal in this one— especially in a game where the home crowd will consistently be giving Andrea Bargnani a “warm” welcome (despite the city being hit by an ice storm just a few days ago).
Let’s get to the Cage’s 5 Keys to the Game.
Strike Early:
As many of us saw last night, Toronto was stuck in the mud early in the game at Madison Square Garden. Instead of waiting until late in the game to turn up the intensity, the Raptors can make things easier for themselves by beginning tonight’s game with a high intensity level right after tip-off. Not only should an early focus come on the offensive end of the floor, but on the defensive end too. The fourth quarter that the Raptors played less than 24 hours ago was quite something. They didn’t allow the Knicks to establish any rhythm in the game’s waning moments— New York only mustered up 12 points against Toronto’s 29. The start of tonight’s game should be more of the same.
“Home Sweet Home”:
In this past week, the Toronto Raptors showcased their best four-game road trip in recent memory, defeating the likes of the Dallas Mavericks, Oklahoma City Thunder, and the aforementioned Knicks along the way. It’s time to take the same winning effort to the ACC in front of the fans. On the season thus far, the Raptors have surprisingly put together a respectable 8-7 record on the road. The bad news is that the team’s record is only 4-8 in games played north of the border. If establishing a winning culture is the goal, Toronto needs to start protecting home court. The good teams in the association never make things easy for the opposition visiting their turf.
Keep JV Involved:
Jonas Valanciunas was a beast last night. Dwane Casey let the second year big man play through his mistakes early during the game in New York, and later on Valanciunas dominated the paint versus the Knicks. In a game where he ended up posting 16 points and a career-high 18 rebounds, JVal was the recipient of some crisp passes in the right spots— giving him a chance to shine against the likes of Tyson Chandler. Why not go for a sequel in tonight’s game?
Keep Swingin’:
And by “swingin'”, I mean moving the ball around the horn until the open man is found. It worked last night, as John Salmons and Terrence Ross were found for more than a few open jumpshots as the great ball movement helped push the Raptors to a 12 point victory. DeMar DeRozan‘s 13 shot attempts last night was the most by any Raptor player who entered the game. Unless a player’s shooting gets hot in this one, the ball shouldn’t stick too much. Balanced shot distribution and solid shot selection were reasons why the Raptors won last night’s matchup.
No Tricks From Il Mago:
We’ve seen former Raptor players come to the ACC and randomly put up huge stat-lines before. Andrea Bargnani pulled down a double-double (this is not a typo) of 18 points and 12 rebounds in part #1 of this home-and-home series. With the crowd likely to be expressing their negative sentiments towards Il Mago (though they are sort of harsh and may not be totally warranted), Bargnani just may play tonight’s game with a chip on his shoulder. It’s important for the Raptors to make things difficult for the former number one pick.
X-Factor: Amir Johnson
Amir Johnson had a relatively quiet game versus New York last night. I expect him to be better in this one. Since the trade, Amir has been active and has left a significant imprint on majority of the games the Raptors have played. I have a hunch that he’ll be putting up more than the 7 and 5 he did at MSG.
