Lowry takes control to sink Knicks in OT
Raptors make mistakes but deliver solid performance when it counts
NEW YORK Too many fouls. Way too many turnovers — nine alone from their star point guard.
So what if Kyle Lowry and the Toronto Raptors weren’t perfect? Come overtime, they went from flawed to nearly flawless.
“We had so many mistakes on both sides, even defensively,” coach Dwane Casey said. “But it was one of those games, if you’re serious about winning, you find a way to get it done and our guys did it.”
Lowry had 21 points and 11 assists, controlling the overtime period and leading the Raptors to a 95-90 victory over the New York Knicks on Sunday night.
Lowry had nine turnovers and missed a jumper that would have won it the contest regulation time, but then had two baskets and an assist in overtime, accounting for more points than the Knicks managed as a team. Terrence Ross added a season-high 22 points for the Raptors, who maintained the best record in the Eastern Conference at 18-6.
“It took overtime but I thought everyone stepped it up tonight,” Lowry said.
Carmelo Anthony had 34 points and nine rebounds for the Knicks, who played without injured guards Iman Shumpert and J.R. Smith.
Anthony missed all three shots in overtime, when the Knicks went one of eight.
“They applied a little bit more pressure than they had throughout the course of the game and kind of got us playing a little bit faster than we wanted to play,” Anthony said.
Tim Hardaway Jr. got the start and scored 18 points, but missed eight of his final 10 shots and finished four of 15. The Knicks, who ended a 10-game losing streak with a victory at Boston on Friday, fell to 5-21. Ross gave the Raptors an 8684 lead on a short jumper with 2:39 remaining in regulation and the teams then went scoreless across the next two minutes before the Knicks finally tied it on Anthony’s drive with 28 seconds to go.
Lowry missed a short jumper before the buzzer but Toronto then held the Knicks without a basket in overtime until Hardaway’s meaningless layup with 5.2 seconds left.
Patrick Patterson’s three-pointer opened the scoring in OT and put Toronto ahead for good. Lowry later made a pair of jumpers before feeding Amir Johnson for a basket that made it 95-88 with 1:05 left.
TIP- INS
Raptors: Toronto improved to 10-0 when holding teams below 100 points. ... Jonas Valanciunas finished with eight points and 10 rebounds, ending his streak of double-doubles at three games, which tied a career high. The last Toronto player with four in a row was Chris Bosh late in the 2009-10 season.
COACH DEROZAN
While all-star DeMar DeRozan is out with a torn groin tendon, he’s spending extra time around his coaches. Casey said DeRozan has joined some coaches’ meetings, where he hears not only strategies, but criticisms of his teammates. Any worry that DeRozan will report what he hears back to them?
“I hope not, and if he does, I’m telling the truth,” Casey said. “So I’m not telling him anything I wouldn’t tell them to their face.”
SEE YOU IN FEBRUARY?
Lowry is the only player in the NBA averaging 21 points and better than 10 assists in December, and with the Raptors atop their conference, will have a strong case to be back here in February for the All-Star game.
“It would be one of those individual goals you can check off, but I’m not worried about that right now,” he said. “I’m just worried about this team getting wins.”
UP NEXT
Raptors: Host Orlando on Monday.
BULLS 93, HEAT 75
Mike Dunleavy scored 22 points and the Chicago Bulls overcame a sloppy start Sunday to beat the offensively inept Miami Heat, 93-75.
Heat leading scorer Chris Bosh (calf strain) missed a game for the first time this season, which left them without enough punch or size to challenge Chicago. Miami shot a season-low 35 per cent, including four for 22 from three-point range.
Jimmy Butler had 17 points for the Central Division-leading Bulls. They improved to 11-3 on the road, best in the Eastern Conference.
Dwyane Wade and Luol Deng led Miami with 17 points apiece.
THUNDER 112, SUNS 8 8
Russell Westbrook had 28 points, eight assists and eight rebounds, Kevin Durant added 23 points and eight rebounds and the Oklahoma City Thunder won its sixth straight game, beating the Phoenix Suns 112-88 on Sunday night.
Westbrook recorded his eighth straight game of scoring at least 20 points, and getting five rebounds and five assists since his return from a broken hand. By halftime, he had 24, five rebounds and six assists. He narrowly missed getting his ninth career triple-double.
With the win, Oklahoma City — which started the season 3-12 — moved within a half-game of eighth place in the Western Conference. The Thunder, with Westbrook and Durant back after missing most or all of the first part of the season due to injury, has won eight of their last nine games and is 11-13.
Gerald Green led Phoenix with 15 points. The Suns have lost five straight games to fall to 12-13.
WIZARDS 93, JAZZ 84
John Wall had 16 points, eight assists and six rebounds, and the Washington Wizards overcame a sluggish start Sunday night to put away the slumping Utah Jazz, 93-84. Wall also had five steals and three blocks, Bradley Beal scored 22 points, and Paul Pierce added 15 for the Wizards.
Alec Burks scored 19 points, and Gordon Hayward had 16 for the Jazz, who have lost 11 of 12.
The Wizards have won four straight and seven of eight.