NEW YORK — Forward Patrick Patterson and point guard Kyle Lowry hit clutch shots in the early stages of overtime and the Toronto Raptors pulled out a 95-90 victory over the New York Knicks Sunday night at Madison Square Garden.
The Raptors blew a five-point lead in the fourth quarter by scoring 14 points. They never lost the lead and overtime was necessary after New York forged an 86-86 tie on a layup by forward Carmelo Anthony with 28.7 seconds remaining.
Patterson atoned for not being able to stop Anthony from driving past him by hitting the go-ahead 3-pointer into overtime. Lowry atoned for firing an air-ball on an open mid-range jumper at the regulation buzzer by hitting a 21-footer over Anthony with 3:33 remaining and a 16-footer over forward Amar’e Stoudemire with two minutes remaining for a 93-88 edge.
Guard Terrence Ross led the Raptors with a season-high 22 points with 13 coming during the third quarter when they rallied from a six-point deficit and took a 72-67 lead entering the fourth. Lowry finished with 21 points, reserve Lou Williams added 15 and Patterson added 13 for the Raptors, who were getting loud cheers from fans who made the trip by the end of the game.
Anthony scored 34 points but was 0-for-3 and was forced into an offensive foul by Patterson in the extra session. Guard Tim Hardaway Jr. started in place of J.R. Smith (left foot) and added 18 points but shot 4-of-14.
The Knicks fell to 5-21 by shooting 37.2 (29-of-78) percent and committing 25 turnovers leading to 20 Toronto points.
New York Knicks took a 52-46 lead on consecutive 3-pointers by Calderon and Hardaway but over the final 9:57 were outscored 26-15. Ross scored 13 points in that span, including a pair of 3-pointers that briefly gave Toronto a one-point lead. He also had the go-ahead free throws when he hit three with under three minutes remaining for a 65-62 lead.
NOTES: Although G DeMar DeRozan missed his eighth straight game and is a few weeks away from returning from a torn abductor longus tendon strain, Toronto coach Dwane Casey has allowed him to speak up in coaches meetings. “He says a lot,” Casey said. “He just doesn’t say a lot to you guys (media).” … DeRozan participated in the morning shootaround, did pregame work on the court and Casey compared his presence in meetings to when he was an assistant to George Karl in Seattle and Nate McMillan sat in. … New York coach Derek Fisher said is aware that some fans might want the team to tank and said that it’s a tough balance with expiring contracts and integrating a new system. “It’s not a great combination for cohesion and team chemistry, but I think there’s enough guys in the locker room that want to do it the right way,” Fisher said. … With G Iman Shumpert out for about three weeks due to a dislocated left shoulder, Fisher said that second-year G Tim Hardaway could get more minutes.