Toronto Raptors' Amir Johnson (left) and Rudy Gay defend New York Knicks' Amar'e Stoudemire during Wednesday night's game. (REUTERS)
Dwane Casey used the words “terrible” and “pathetic” in describing the Raptors defence a night earlier in a win over Denver.
So it really shouldn’t have come as a surprise that the high-flying Raptors of a night ago took a backseat to the defence-first Raps Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden as Toronto extended its winning streak to four games with a hard-fought and well-deserved 92-88 win over the Knicks.
There certainly were periods of pretty dreadful basketball with both the Knicks and Raptors suffering a real aversion to the bottom of the basket for much of the night. The Raptors shot just 33% from the field in the first half, with Alan Anderson the lone Raptor seemingly capable of shooting in any kind of rhythm.
Anderson went into the Denver game having made just three of his past 15 three-point attempts but got it going against the Nuggets with 2-of-3 and then in New York hit three of his first four in the first half alone as his team-high
