Nets Five-Game Winning Streak Ends in Toronto

By Nick Ziegler (@Ziggy26x)

January 11th, 2013

Brooklyn Nets vs. Toronto Raptors Post Game Recap

Final Score: Nets 80 Raptors 96

The Brooklyn Nets had their five-game winning streak snapped on Saturday night against the Atlantic Division leading Toronto Raptors. The loss moves the Nets to (15-22) on the season and are now four games behind the Raptors in the Division.

Positives-

In what was a long night on Friday in the double-overtime win against the Miami Heat, and tough travels to Toronto the Nets were behind the eight-ball to begin with, which led to few positives in an ugly game. The best player for the Nets in their 80-point performance was Paul Pierce, who led the way with a team-high 15 points on five for nine shooting. When Pierce was taking out of the game towards the end of the third quarter the Nets actually had a 10-point lead, but by the time he returned they were down by eight points in about a seven minute span.

The starting frontline for the Raptors was a non-factor in their win, as Center Jonas Valanciunas and Amir Johnson both had poor games against the Nets small lineup. Valanciunas was held to eight points on two for nine shooting with nine rebounds, and Johnson scored only three points on one for six shooting.

Negatives-

DeMar DeRozan was fantastic in the Raptors win, as he had a game-high 26 points on nine for 18 shooting. Besides his great scoring game DeRozan did a nice job on the glass with seven rebounds, and he also dished out five assists.

After three great games, and a 32-point game on Friday against the Heat, Joe Johnson struggled to ever get going in the loss on Saturday. Johnson scored just 11 points on four for 13 shooting, but did do well on the glass with six rebounds, and did dish out six assists. The rebounds and assists aren’t a bad thing for Johnson and then Nets, but they need him to be scoring in the 20-point area every night especially without Deron Williams.

The bench play was a huge disadvantage for Brooklyn in this game, and with a lack of production and lack of stopping Toronto’s bench, it got an ugly. The Raptors saw great play from Patrick Patterson, who had a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Patterson also had a ridiculous +40 +/-. John Salmons was also great for Toronto, as he scored 13 points on a perfect five for five shooting, and like Patterson had a great +/- at +32.

The Nets will be heading to London before they are set to play against the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday.

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W2W4: New York Knicks vs. Toronto Raptors, December 28th, 2013

By Kenneth Teape (@teapester725)

Saturday, December 28^th, 2013

New York Knicks vs. Toronto Raptors

Pre-Game News and Notes

The Knicks will look to salvage the home-and-home with the Toronto Raptors tonight after losing 95-83 Friday night. This game is of the utmost importance for the Knicks as they need to start mounting some division wins if they plan to take advantage of what is the worst division in sports. Here are some things to keep an eye on in the game tonight.

AP Photo

-Injury News and Updates

The Knicks will have to find a way to score once again without Carmelo Anthony. Anthony will miss his third straight game, as he did not even make the trip to Toronto with the team. Anthony’s ankle injury has proved too much for him to take the court for the better part of the last week. Anthony will be sorely missed as they have been outscored by an average of 20.5 points per game without their leading scorer.

Anthony is not the only player who is dealing with injuries as Iman Shumpert is battling a thigh injury. He fought through it last night but he is questionable tonight as he did not perform well Friday. Amar’e Stoudemire also is struggling with some swelling in his right wrist the past two games but is supposed to be ready to go Saturday.

For the Raptors we will see if former Knicks Steve Novak and Landry Fields will take the court against them tonight. Neither player received any minutes Friday night, and have not for the last seven games; since the trade with the Sacramento Kings that sent out Rudy Gay the Raptors have been using their new, higher ceiling players in Patrick Patterson, Greivis Vasquez and John Salmons.

-Bargnani Returns to Toronto

Andrea Bargnani will be making his first return to Toronto since the trade this offseason that landed him with the Knicks. Bargnani had a tumultuous tenure with the Raptors after being the first overall pick in 2006; a combination of injuries and poor player caused the fans to turn on him and Bargnani crumble under the pressure of being a top pick.

AP Photo

Bargnani can expect a rude welcoming when he takes the court Saturday night as the fans grew tired of Bargnani the longer he was there. On the other hand he may receive the greatest ovation of any player this season in Toronto as the Raptor faithful are happy that he is gone.

The biggest slap in the face Bargnani can give the Raptors is him playing well and leading the Knicks to a victory. With Anthony out the Knicks need someone to carry the scoring load and Bargnani should be the man; he will be as motivated as ever to show the crowd in Toronto he was worth the first overall draft pick they used on him.

-Matchup of the Game: JR Smith vs. DeMar DeRozan

Without Anthony the Knicks need Smith to pick up some of the scoring slack left behind; he is capable of it but how he gets the points will be the thing to keep an eye on. Friday night Smith and DeRozan matched up and had similar shooting nights; Smith was 7-15 and DeRozan 7-13. But there was an eight point difference in points as DeRozan took permanent residency at the free throw line, taking 14 attempts. Smith on the other hand only had two.

Smith has been better recently facilitating the offense but needs to stay aggressive when he is looking to score the basketball. Smith was at his best last season when he was attacking the basket and getting to the foul line. Smith and the rest of the wing players also have to step up the effort on the defensive end as DeRozan and John Salmons hurt the Knicks Friday night from the perimeter.

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