Toronto Raptors Kyle Lowry goes to the basket against New York Knicks Lou Amundson during the second half of their NBA basketball game in Toronto, Tuesday November 10, 2015.Mark Blinch/The Globe and Mail
Missing two of their key players and coming off a pair of humbling road losses, the Toronto Raptors fell achingly short of righting the ship with a victory back at home.
Starter DeMarre Carroll missed a second straight game with a sore right heel, while reserve Terrence Ross was sidelined for what may be a while with a thumb injury. In a game they once trailed by 13 points, the Raptors battled back and played through a white-knuckled fourth quarter, but lost 111-109 to Carmelo Anthony and the New York Knicks. A Toronto team who had jumped out to a franchise best 5-0 start to the season, has now lost three straight.
DeMar DeRozan led the Raptors with 29 points, while Kyle Lowry had 23 with seven rebounds and nine assists. Jonas Valanciunas, who currently sits sixth in the NBA in field goal percentage (.606) and eighth in rebounds per game (10.1) posted 16 points and nine boards.
The Raptors were returning home from a four game road trip that had begun with big wins over the Dallas Mavericks and Oklahoma City Thunder, and concluded with two straight losses, the last one by 20 points to the Miami Heat. They had been held to 29 second-half points in Miami, their fewest since a 28-point half versus Indiana in 2012.
The absent Carroll, suffering with plantar fasciitis, plays many key roles for the Raptors from shooting the three, to nabbing rebounds and defending the other team's best player.
Ross sustained a ligament injury during a Monday workout session as his left thumb hit another player and instantly swelled. There is no timetable for his return to basketball activities.
"I could be back as soon as two weeks, or as long as who knows," said Ross after the game, wearing a small blue brace on his thumb.
The absence of those two players had the Raptors experimenting with different lineups. James Johnson started in Carroll's place for a second straight game, posting seven points and three boards. Canadian Anthony Bennett also saw the most minutes he's been given in a game since joining the team (three points in 17 minutes).
The Raptors had a sluggish first quarter, as the team allowed Knicks rookie Kristaps Porzingis to dominate the boards, while they struggled from both three point land and the free throw line. A brief bit of momentum for Toronto came with three consecutive baskets by DeRozan with three minutes remaining – and end to end layup, followed by an alley-oop dunk assisted by Lowry, and a feisty put-back from under the hoop. But the Knicks still led 24-17 at quarter's end.
Three minutes into the second quarter, however, the Raptors seized the lead. The surge was muscled by some big Toronto rebounds and ten fast points by Lowry, who had quietly gone 0-for-3 from the field in the first quarter.
But then Carmelo Anthony, who had been held to two points on 1-of-3 shooting in the first, suddenly re-entered the game after a breather and took the Knicks on his back. The eight-time NBA All-Star exploded for a 17-point quarter and put New York up 60-52 going into the half.
DeRozan dumped in seven points in the third quarter to lead Toronto's comeback effort, while Lowry contributed nine. The Raptors chipped away in a quarter they once trailed by 13. By the time it was over, the two teams were tied 85-85.
They remained grid-locked for much of the fourth, and the Raptors trailed by three with 11 seconds left. DeRozan split a pair of free throws and the Raptors retained the ball, but he missed a key layup late that would have tied it. The Knicks went up again, and then Cory Joseph then hit a three-pointer go pull within one in two seconds left. Toronto had to foul, then go the ball back, but Luis Scola's last-ditch shot fell well short in the final second.
The officials admitted after the game to a mis-call late in the fourth quarter, which should have awarded the ball to Toronto. Anthony stepped slightly out of bounds at that time while being trapped by two Raptors, but the official did not see him out of bounds in real time. At the time Casey complained at length, but it wasn't until after the game that the officials said they were wrong.
Anthony was New York's top scorer with 25 points, and he also added four rebounds and three assists. Lance Thomas hit all three of his three-point attempts in a 17-point night.
"I thought Anthony and James did as good a job as anybody has on Carmelo," said Casey. "He's just a great player who makes great plays and great shots.
The Raptors head back out of town to face the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday before coming home to meet the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday.
Rachel Brady