NY Knicks Face hard Road Test Against Toronto Raptors

Green has missed the Miami Heat’s last four games with this illness and there is no indication that a return to the court is coming anytime soon.

Los Angeles (1-5) followed its only win with a 99-95 loss Sunday against NY, missing 16 straight fourth-quarter shots after leading by six points.

The Knicks will have to pit their young stars against Jonas Valanciunas and DeMar DeRozan, who are also budding young stars.

The Heat are favored by a small two-point margin in their matchup against Toronto.

Durant added 11 rebounds, four assists and three steals, and hit six of seven free throws.

The Raptors split 2-2 on their first extended road trip of the season. Hassan Whiteside leads in rebounds with 10.8 and in blocks with 3.7. Additionally, with a 6-4 record, the Heat have the advantage ATS. All 5 starters contributed in double figures to keep the Heat ahead the whole game.

The jerseys that the Miami Heat are wearing this week have a military theme and say “Home Strong” on the chest, a nod to the name of the program the team founded to honor soldiers at every game. Bryant, who said he was dealing with back issues, left the Lakers’ Monday practice early and skipped Tuesday morning’s shootaround, He has not played at AmericanAirlines Arena in either of the past two seasons.

The Heat dressed only 12 players, one shy of the allowed limit, with Green serving the first game of his team suspension and Udrih and Stokes yet to arrive.

For the next few days, those words may as well be a mantra for the Heat. He had a solid seven points and more impressive, he kept Dwyane Wade in check, playing a key part in limiting the future Hall of Famer to seven first-half points. Chalmers is also reaching the end of his two-year contract extension signed in 2014, thereby fueling the reports that his departure from the Miami Heat locker room is inevitable.

The Raptors have an offensive rating of 102.5 (ranked ninth), while the Heat rank eighth for their defensive rating of 96.1.

Chris Bosh had a game-high 23 points on 8-of-14 field goal shooting including 3 three-pointers. Only five other players in National Basketball Association history – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, John Havlicek and Larry Bird – have at least as many points, rebounds, assists and championship rings as Wade.

Miami has an assist to turnover ratio of 1.40 this season (ranked 15th), while Toronto ranks lower at 29th with an A/TO of 1.15.

The Heat then briefly moved into the lead before the Raptors went into the intermission up 47-44.

Toronto is one of the best in the league in forcing turnovers, with opponents averaging a TOV% of 15.6% (ranked ninth).