Raps Beat Knicks, Take 6.5-Game Atlantic Lead
Posted March 14, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
For the Raptors to be a serious playoff team, games like Wednesday night’s against the New York Knicks can only be classified as “must win.”
By all accounts, it looks the Raptors are a serious playoff team.
Toronto continued to take care of business in the Atlantic Division Wednesday night, getting balanced scoring and battling back from a seven-point halftime deficit to beat the Knicks 104-94.
T.J. Ford was unbelievable in this one, and the Raps point guard not only scored 18 (which could have been 21 but for a buzzer beater that came a split second short) but added 18 assists, matching a career high.
“It felt like the game was just 12 on 12, 12 guys in uniform on our team, 12 guys on their team. I’m so in a zone right now, I don’t hear anything,” said Ford.
Ford’s helpers were spread around nicely, and Chris Bosh had 22 points while Jorge Garbajosa had 20, Andrea Bargnani had 18 and Anthony Parker finished with 15.
Sam Mitchell’s club got off to a slow start and Knicks guard Stephon Marbury made it difficult for Bosh and company by dropping 31 points. Still, the Raptors came out of their shells in the third and fourth quarters, playing a brand of team basketball New York seemed incapable of matching in front of an Air Canada Centre sellout of 19,800.
The win was Toronto ‘s fourth in a row, putting to rest concerns that emerged in recent weeks after the team lost three straight and four of five.
The victory was also significant in the standings, as the Raptors opened up a 6.5-game lead over New York for the top spot in the Atlantic Division and thus, an automatic playoff berth and no worse than a fourth seed in the Eastern Conference.
“We knew how important this game was coming in, especially with the Knicks kind of sneaking up on everybody,” said Bosh.
With less than 20 games to play the Raps are seven games over the .500 mark at 36-29, and with a creampuff schedule ahead appear to be poised for their first post-season appearance under Mitchell.
But there was some bad news Wednesday night too, as Ford’s backup Jose Calderon was forced to leave the game in the second quarter after spraining his ankle while driving to the basket. Suddenly, the recent acquisition of guard Juan Dixon looks huge.
The Raptors host Houston on Friday then head to New York for a rematch against the Knicks on Sunday. Toronto’s won eight of its last 10 against New York.
