“The most important thing about (Wednesday) was we gave a great effort and we fought right through to the end of the game,” said veteran guard Leandro Barbosa. “We are getting better. I think this is the way we are supposed to play every night.”
That three-point bugaboo that saw the Raptors give up 25 shots from distance in the past two games?
All but gone and they did it against the league’s leading long-bombers, holding them to just eight three-pointers. The Knicks average over nine a game from distance. And to get those eight they needed to jack up 21.
Individually, Andrea Bargnani was perhaps as good as he’s ever been in a Raptors uniform. Bargnani, who has been very quiet for him the past two games but was too banged-up to join a quintet of Raptors for some extra practice on Tuesday, looked completely refreshed and as animated and engaged as he has been in a while.
The Raptors also put the ball in his hands a lot and no one was happier about that than Bargnani himself, who responded with a career-high 41-point game and was just as engaged defensively as he was when the Raptors had the basketball.
“Jay was calling plays to get me the ball in the low post,” Bargnani explained. “It was good because I was in rhythm and when the double-team came, I was ready to pass to my teammates. It was good for me and for the team too, because I think it got them a lot of open shots.”
When he wasn’t calling out teammates for missed defensive assignments — the coaching staff had to settle him down on more than one occasion — he was battling Stoudemire tooth and nail for position under both baskets.
It didn’t result in a win, but it was night and day from the back-to-back losses to begin the week.
Kleiza knows what happens to players who second-guess officials. They get hit in the wallet, so looking very much like he felt he was already robbed once, he went to great lengths to avoid having it done a second time.
The incident in question was an attempted in-bounds pass by Kleiza with 57 seconds left in the game and the Knicks up by three. He was in the process of releasing the ball when he was called for the in-bounds tunover on the five-second rule. The look on his face said it all.
“Definitely, I thought it was three or four seconds,” Kleiza said. “I released the ball and I thought he had called a foul on the floor. It is what it is.”
It was a first for Kleiza.
It was a loss, but for a struggling team that was coming off a 24-point embarrassment in Indiana on Monday, it was progress. And it very nearly could have gone into overtime. Bargnani, whose three-pointer with 28 seconds to go deadlocked the game at 110-110, airballed a 29-foot three-pointer with Felton guarding him tight as time expired that could have sent it to an extra frame.
“I didn’t take a good shot, but there were only two seconds on the clock, so I did what I could,” Bargnani said.
Said Triano of Bargnani, who added seven rebounds and six assists: “He played very well. He’s like all of us. We haven’t been pleased with our performance in the last couple of games, so he’s going to respond.”
The game came just three days after a 17-point loss to the Knicks in Toronto in which New York’s three-point shooters had a 12-trey heyday, and just two days removed from Indiana’s 13-bomb barrage.
Toronto’s defence on Wednesday night was far more attentive to detail. The Raptors, especially in the early going, baited the Knicks into taking a lot of long two-point jump shots, which they happened to miss more than occasionally. And they limited the Knicks’ fast-break opportunities by holding their own on the boards. New York managed just eight three-pointers on 21 attempts all told.
When the Raptors went up 47-35 in the second quarter, the Garden crowd got restless, briefly booing the home side. But Toronto’s early lead, which got as big as 13 points, evaporated in a hurry. Felton reeled off 11 points in a span of a little more than two minutes to pull the Knicks within three by scoring both inside and from behind the three-point line.
Stoudemire won his second Eastern Conference player of the week award last week and could be headed toward a third after moving within one of the franchise record of seven straight 30-point outings.
The Knicks threw it to him on nearly every possession down the stretch, but Bargnani never let the Knicks get ahead by more than six in the final quarter.
“I challenge anybody to guard Amare,” D’Antoni said. “And Bargnani’s 7-feet, puts it on the floor and he shoots … what are you going to do? Comes down to maybe missing one shot out of five and that’s what happened. Amare just didn’t miss. Just awesome.”
The Raptors thought they had the Knicks’ last play well defended, but Felton noticed a little slip by Jose Calderon that gave him just enough space to pull up from the top of the key.
“I think we did a good job,” Bargnani said. “It was good defense by Calderon and what can you say about that shot? There is nothing to say about that shot.”
In the late first and early second quarter, the Raptors thrived on far superior bench production and more goodness from Bargnani. Bargnani, Bayless, and Barbosa (<3) ran the Raps’ second quarter unit to a 13-point lead. Perhaps miffed by Bayless’s hairline, a sneering Raymond Felton promptly shot the Knicks back into it by his damn self. In a 2 minute, 18 second stretch of the mid-second, Felton scored 11 points, including two and-ones and a pull-up bomb from downtown. The little dude had 19 at the half (part of a 23-8 run to put the Knicks up 2), and looked pretty badass while he did it. Next year, I’m dressing up as Pissed-Off Raymond Felton for Halloween. I’ll shave my head, line up my facial hair, put on a #2 Knicks jersey, and growl at everybody I see. Also, baby arms.
Because foul trouble limited Toronto center Amir Johnson to just 19 minutes, Stoudemire and Bargnani found the perfect defender to exploit: each other. The two took passive defense to a new level, especially in the second half. Stoudemire made 15 of 27 shots and was no match for Bargnani, the 7-foot Italian who scored a season-high 41 points by making 16 of 24 shots.
"I respect Amar’e," Bargnani said. "He’s a good player. It just makes it even better to play against him. I love to play against him."
Toronto, which led by 13 in the second quarter, hurt itself with two illegal-defense calls compared to none for the Knicks, plus Jose Calderon’s technical foul. Those three points were the difference.
Stoudemire was 9 of 13 in the fourth quarter, hitting jumpers, runners and dunks. He continued his attack even after picking up his controversial fifth foul with 2:09 left, as Toronto’s DeMar DeRozan initiated contact on a drive.
With Stoudemire, the leadership starts on the plane ride. According to the coaching staff, Stoudemire can be seen on his laptop, replaying that day’s game on the plane, sitting in the front, often talking to the coaches about strategy.
D’Antoni said he loves how Stoudemire has become a serious student of the game, exuding professionalism, and calls his mind "inquisitive."
Stoudemire and Felton’s professionalism has rubbed off and filtered down to all the players.
"It’s all about basketball now, watching film and studying," Stoudemire said. "And in my free time I’ll read to educate myself."
Stoudemire said has been reading a "diverse book" — Sun Tzu’s Art of War.
"It’s about trying to win a war without having a war," Stoudemire said. "I’m trying to apply those rules to basketball."
Stoudemire is winning the war and winning over every basketball fan in New York.
"It’s a lot of fun," Stoudemire said. "Anytime you can win the way we have been and play with this type of swagger, it is so much fun. We just want to keep that roll going."
Q: Obviously the Raptors are dealing with the big loss of Chris Bosh and are still trying to find themselves as a team. How do you think that are coping with that?
A: I think the Raptors are still searching for their identity. In fact, their record at this point of the season is almost identical to what it was with Bosh last year. There hasn’t been a huge drop off in terms of production. At the same time, I think the main guy that obviously has to step up is Andrea Barngani. I think he’s still trying to find consistency. I know his numbers have gone up every season he’s been in the NBA, but he’s got to be there every night. He’s teammates also need to start recognizing that he is going to be the guy that has to get the ball and the one his team focuses in on on offense.
I think ultimately this team is still trying to find themselves, but there’s a lot of positives to look at, especially when you consider the absence of Bosh.
Okay, seriously, I think it is time we talked about Andrea Bargnani as a potential All-Star. He looked unconscious tonight and definitely becomes more effective when he gets the ball in his hands.
He has been slagged like no other in Raptor history and he has played some pretty decent ball throughout his tenure as a Dino. With the absence of Chris Bosh somebody needed to become the star and he has filled the role admirably.
Bargnani is still not a great defender, nor is he a tenacious rebounder but he is becoming the focal point on the offensive end and he should continue to be. Bayless and Calderon forgot about him the last two games and the Raptors got killed. Tonight he had the ball in the post, outside the arc, on the baseline and he nailed his shots.
Andrea should be the focal point of this team on the offensive end and finally the coach and point guards are understanding this. Bargnani is taking the opportunity and running with it.
Potentially an All-Star this year. Who would have thought that?
