Raps seek revenge against Knicks
Players look to avoid repeat of earlier home court defeat
Luis Scola remembers, you bet he does, and it’s going to give him a bit more impetus to get the Toronto Raptors to a historical place Thursday night.
Facing the New York Knicks in search of their franchise record-setting 10th-straight victory, the Raptors — and Scola in particular — will be out to avenge an earlier home loss to the 22-25 visitors.
“I knew coming into this stretch, I thought New York was going to be one of the most difficult games we’d have,” the Raptors forward said after practice Wednesday. “They beat us on our home court and we can’t let a team beat us two times at home.”
Losers of three in a row, the Knicks are still challenging for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot after having won only 17 games all last season.
The seven-foot Latvian rookie Kristaps Porzingis has infused the franchise with young talent to go along with veteran scorer Carmelo Anthony and there is reason for abundant optimism around the franchise.
Anthony, whose availability won’t be known until game time as he’s fighting through some knee pain, is a known commodity and hasn’t really changed in years; Porzingis has caught many by surprise in a season that has him in every rookie-of-theyear conversation.
“I didn’t get a chance to see him play before the NBA, but I heard a lot of things about him,” Scola said. “I believe nobody expected him to do this well in the first year, but he’s got a unique combination of size and mobility and talent and touch and all those things. When you have those things in the NBA, it’s very hard not to play well.”
Toronto coach Dwane Casey likened Porzingis to a young Dirk Nowitzki, a comparison oft-made around the league this year.
“He can get his shot off, he’s an excellent offensive rebounder, he had three or four against us (in the earlier game in Toronto) and one dunk over our heads,” Casey said. “This young man is going to be a force to be reckoned with a long time in his league.”