On a night the Knicks honored the late Anthony Mason with a moment of silence and a video tribute, they also honored him by playing the kind of gritty, underdog game at the Garden of which Mase would have been proud.
A mismatched, underwhelming, shorthanded roster gutted out a 103-98 win over the Raptors, the runaway Atlantic Division leaders, for their first back-to-back victories in well over a month.
Before the game, coach Derek Fisher talked about how the Knicks would be well-suited to emulate Mason's tenacity, and Raptors coach Dwane Casey had warned that the Knicks could humiliate a team by outworking it. That's exactly what happened, as a roster more befitting the Developmental League outhustled Toronto and used an 8-0 fourth-quarter run to improve to 12-46.
Tim Hardaway Jr. had a team-high 22 points, Andrea Bargnani added 19 and Alexey Shved came off the bench for 15 points, five assists and some huge late game plays in just 19 minutes of efficient action.
It was the second night of action in a row for the Knicks after they rallied from 18 points down to beat the Pistons, 121-115 in double overtime in Detroit on Friday, but they actually looked fresher … and hungrier. The back-to-back wins marked their first consecutive victories since Jan. 21 and 23.
Granted, the Raptors lost their fifth straight and played without Kyle Lowry. The All-Star guard hadn't missed a single game all season, but Toronto sat him for a much-needed rest Saturday night. He had been battling calf, hamstring and finger injuries, and had averaged just 11.6 points on 29.7-percent shooting over his last five games.
But the Knicks aren't in a position to be picky, or toss back victories.
Toronto's DeMar DeRozan even went for a 360-degree dunk in the open court, and blew it to give the fairly somber Garden crowd something at which to laugh. And the Knicks didn't need to dig out of a big hole, as they had the night before, since they led for most of the game.
It was tied 71-all after Jonas Valancius' layup with 1:09 left in the third quarter, and the Knicks were clinging to an 80-79 lead after Toronto's Lou Williams scored with 9:48 left in the game. But the Knicks scored eight unanswered points to seize command.
Shved drilled a left-wing 3-pointer to put the Knicks up by four. Lou Amundson added a free throw then a jumper for an 86-79 cushion. Point guard Shane Larkin hustled back on defense to break up what should have been an easy fast-break layup for Greivis Vasquez, and when Lance Thomas found Jason Smith for a cutting layup, the Knicks led 88-79.
There were seven minutes left to play, but the game essentially was over.
The Knicks held off Toronto the rest of the way, the Raptors getting within a basket after a turnover and layup with half a minute remaining. But Shved drove and kicked out to Langston Galloway for a dagger 3-pointer — Galloway's first basket since the first quarter — with 13 seconds left.
Fisher said an MRI exam of Jose Calderon's left Achilles tendon confirmed a strain. The point guard didn't dress Saturday.
"We don't know much about a timetable. But we know he wants to get back out there,'' Fisher said.
Knicks president Phil Jackson was not at the game because he was watching No. 1 Kentucky beat Arkansas, 84-67, in Lexington, Ky. The Wildcats have two expected top draft picks: center Karl Towns and forward Willie Cauley-Stein.
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