High-flying Falcons get one last game at Georgia Dome
Raptors 116, Knicks 101
The Toronto Raptors left the New York Knicks behind in a hurry in a big third quarter. Toronto had a 25-2 edge in the first 9:20 of the third and coasted to a 116101 victory Sunday. “I think we just got more physical,” said Kyle Lowry, who had 16 points and nine assists before coming out late in the third quarter. “The bigs did a good job of rebounding and we got out and were able to run.” Toronto outscored New York 27-8 in the third quarter to take a 96-62 lead. DeMar DeRozan had 23 points, five rebounds and five assists to lead the Raptors. He joined most of Toronto’s starters in resting in the fourth quarter. Norman Powell added 21 points, DeMarre Carroll had 20 points, and Jonas Valanciunas had 12 points and 16 rebounds. The Raptors improved to 27-13, taking the lead for good late in the first quarter. They led by 38 points in the third in winning their third straight game overall and fifth in a row against the Knicks. Carmelo Anthony led the Knicks with 18 points, Justin Holiday had 17, and Derrick Rose added 16. The Knicks are 2-10 in their last 12 to drop to 18-23. “When you’re not scoring, that’s when you’ve got to focus defensively,” Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek said of his team’s disastrous third quarter. “We weren’t good enough playing the defense and it just ballooned up from there.” Hornacek sat his starters from the latter part of the third quarter. “They were not thinking defense, they were thinking offence and their offence wasn’t going,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s giving up, you can ask them that but the last group came in and played hard and that’s what we need.” The Raptors were 12 for 20 from the field in the third quarter, while the Knicks were 4 for 21 overall and 0 for 4 from the 3-point range. The Knicks also had seven turnovers times in the quarter, leading to 10 Toronto points. The Raptors turned it over four times, but New York was unable score any points off them. “It happened so quickly, a couple of turnovers, they scored four straight times early in that third quarter and we were just looking backwards from that point,” Anthony said. DeRozan led the way with 11 points in the third, and Carroll had 10. Toronto took a 69-54 lead into the halftime break. The Raptors matched their season high in a quarter, scoring 42 in the second. They hit seven 3s in the period, led by Terrence Ross, who went 4 for 5 from beyond the arc. Wesley Matthews scored 19 points and Dirk Nowitzki added 17 to help Dallas beat Minnesota. J.J. Barea scored 15 points for Dallas, and Deron Williams had 13 points and 10 assists. Gorgui Dieng had 21 points, and Andrew Wiggins added 19 for the Timberwolves.
Atlanta — Matt Ryan and the high-scoring Falcons offense will have one more game in the Georgia Dome after all.
The Falcons will host the NFC championship game next Sunday against Green Bay. The Packers beat Dallas 34-31 in Sunday's divisional playoff game.
Ryan continued his hot streak of turnover-free passing in leading Atlanta to a 36-20 win over Seattle in Saturday's first divisional game.
The MVP candidate threw for 338 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions against the Seahawks. It was Ryan's fifth straight game without an interception, leading to a fivegame winning streak for Atlanta. He has 14 touchdown passes in that span.
Ryan and the NFL's top-scoring offense impressed cornerback Richard Sherman and the Seahawks.
"They do a lot of things well," Sherman said. "The quarterback gets the ball out, he doesn't turn the ball over, so that will do it."
Ryan was in top form in leading Atlanta to a 33-32 home win over Green Bay on Oct. 30. He completed 28 of 35 passes for 288 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions.
The Falcons (12-5) have leaned on Ryan and their balanced offense in their pursuit for the second Super Bowl appearance and first championship. Ryan kept the offense moving against Seattle even as All-Pro Julio Jones aggravated a toe injury.
Jones spent much of the second half on the sideline, but still had a game-high six catches for 67 yards and a touchdown in his highly anticipated matchup with Sherman.
Jones' status will be closely watched this week. He missed two games this season with the sore toe. He still finished second in the NFL with 1,409 yards receiving on 83 catches, including six for touchdowns.
Coach Dan Quinn said Saturday that Jones' injury was "no concern at the moment" but acknowledged "it'll be sore."
Added Quinn: "I anticipate him being ready to rock next week."
Jones was not available for postgame interviews, adding to speculation about the severity of the injury.
Ryan has a large list of targets behind Jones. He completed passes to eight receivers against the Seahawks.
Running backs Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman combined for seven catches for 102 yards, including a 14-yard scoring catch by Coleman.
"The ability for them to add another receiver to our offense has been critical for us. It really has," Quinn said.
Coleman had 11 carries for 57 yards. Freeman had 14 carries for 45 yards and a touchdown. Seattle coach Pete Carroll said Atlanta's run game wasn't overwhelming, but it was effective.
"They didn't run for a lot of yards today but they ran well enough," Carroll said.
"They ran with authority, I thought. It was a very impressive component. Somewhere in the fourth quarter, they were pounding us pretty good and we couldn't stop them."
Receivers Mohamed Sanu and Taylor Gabriel each had four catches.
The NFC championship game will be a dramatic final bow for the Georgia Dome. The facility, the team's home for 25 years, will be demolished as the Falcons move into their new $1.5 billion Mercedes-Benz Stadium for the 2017 season.
The Falcons regularly play before sellout crowds, but they rarely open games with the stands full as fans battle Atlanta traffic. On Saturday, most in the crowd of 71,155 were there well before the opening kickoff.
Late in the game, with the win a certainty, fans chanted "MVP! MVP!" for Ryan.
"From the opening kickoff, the dome was rocking," Ryan said. "That's got to be as loud as it's ever been in here."