http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/15/sports/basketball/tim-hardaway-jr-and-knicks-step-up-but-fall-in-overtime.html 2014-12-15 06:09:23 Tim Hardaway Jr. and Knicks Step Up, but Fall in Overtime Without J. R. Smith, the Knicks were able to put up a strong fight against the Raptors but lost after missing their first seven shots in the extra period. === Every limp is met with a sigh these days at Madison Square Garden, every wince greeted by another somber roll of the eyes. First the losses piled up for the There was no hope for Iman Shumpert to play Sunday, not after he dislocated his shoulder in Friday’s win in Boston. But J. R. Smith was deemed a game-time decision, and Coach Derek Fisher sounded reasonably optimistic that Smith could play through his foot injury. Smith even remarked before the game on his ability to withstand discomfort, saying that “everybody should play through pain a little bit,” before leaving the locker room to test his foot during warm-ups. Then at 7 p.m., a half-hour before tipoff, the Knicks announced that Smith would not dress. Tim Hardaway Jr. was moved into the starting lineup. And away they went. The Knicks and the The Raptors appeared to be pulling away late in the third, taking a 72-67 lead as the fourth quarter began and extending their advantage quickly to 7. But the Knicks did respond. A 3-pointer by Shane Larkin tied the game at 74-74 with about 10 minutes remaining. It was 84-84 after a 3-pointer by Carmelo Anthony with 2 minutes 44 seconds remaining, but the Knicks were then stopped on three consecutive trips down the court. An Anthony jumper with 38 seconds left missed, but Toronto’s rebound was tapped out of bounds by Amar’e Stoudemire, preserving the Knicks’ possession. With that, Anthony took Patrick Patterson off the dribble and drove hard with a left-handed layup to tie the score at 86-86 with 28.7 seconds left. The Raptors’ Lou Williams missed a 3-pointer as the shot clock wound down, but Patterson corralled the offensive rebound with 2.7 seconds left. After a timeout, Lowry had an open look with a floater to win the game at the buzzer, but it fell short. Anthony scored 22 of his 34 points in the second half, but without Smith and Shumpert, the Knicks (5-21) did not have enough firepower to keep up with the Raptors (18-6), who own the Eastern Conference’s best record. Hoping to savor the team’s first win in December, Fisher was instead greeted Sunday with more questions about losses. Losses — as in the injured players who are littering his roster. And losses — as in how many more the Knicks may need to earn a No. 1 pick in next year’s draft. Indeed, wistfulness about May’s Fisher deflected the question about the Knicks’ having already given up on this season to build for the future. “I do think there are enough guys in the locker room that do want to do it the right way,” Fisher said before the game. “That’s why we’ve had a chance on a lot of nights to win. I don’t think anybody’s given up on what we’re trying to do at this point.” Then, three minutes into Sunday’s game, Quincy Acy missed a dunk, and the crowd bellowed, offering a glaring reminder of the team’s futility thus far this season. But the Knicks did manage to keep the score tight. A 3-pointer from Lou Williams with 2.6 seconds left in the half put Toronto ahead, 45-44. On the subsequent inbounds pass, Acy lobbed the ball all the way down court, where it found Jose Calderon sneaking behind the defense. He sailed in uncontested for a layup just ahead of the buzzer, and the Knicks held a lead at halftime for just the eighth time this season. Midway through the third quarter, the Knicks’ shooting went cold, and the Raptors pushed the tempo. They shot 62.5 percent from the field, with nine assists on their 10 field goals in the quarter, building their biggest lead of the game with 7 points. But the Knicks, receiving a spark from Larkin off the bench, refused to allow Toronto to stretch its lead much further. By overtime, though, the Knicks had run out of fuel. REBOUNDS Derek Fisher could not provide a timetable for Andrea Bargnani’s return, saying only that he is “progressing.” Bargnani, who has not played this season, sustained a calf strain in late November as he was recovering from a hamstring injury. “We saw what happened last time,” Fisher said. “When he’s there, he’ll be there. He’s working hard to get there, and hopefully it will be soon.”