Patterson fuels OT win in unlikely role as a defender

Josh Lewenberg

TSN Raptors Reporter

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NEW YORK - Earlier in the week, after hitting a big three-point shot to force overtime in a win over Denver, Patrick Patterson expressed his desire to follow in the footsteps of Robert Horry, formally one of the league's most clutch players.

Big Shot Bob made some crucial game-changing, playoff-series winning jumpers throughout his 16-year career - a career that produced seven championship rings - but he wasn't exactly known for making magic on the defensive end.

Patterson, a steady positional defender throughout his time in Toronto, may have even surprised himself with what he was able to do as a stopper on Sunday, facing off against an elite scorer down the stretch of the Raptors' 95-90 OT victory at Madison Square Garden.

"I ain't going to lie, it was a big challenge tonight as far as guarding one of the best players in the NBA," said Patterson, who spent most of the game's final 11 minutes, including the five-minute OT period, chasing around Knicks' star forward Carmelo Anthony. "My whole mindset when I was on him was to just deny him the ball as much as possible. Other than that, yea, I'm not really known for my down-the-stretch perimeter clutch defence like that. But it felt good."

"My teammates had total confidence in me, the coaching staff had total confidence in me as far as keeping me on Melo in those crunch-time minutes. Thankfully it worked."

Landry Fields, starting his third straight game in place of the injured DeMar DeRozan, and James Johnson drew the Anthony assignment for most of the evening. Although Fields - a former teammate of Anthony's in New York - had some success early in the game, the seven-time All-Star and former scoring champ would go on to have his way with both of them.

Midway through the fourth quarter, with the score evened and Anthony carrying a decimated Knicks team - that had won just one of their last 11 games - Dwane Casey turned to the six-foot-nine Patterson, hoping that his length may cause some frustration.

At the time, Anthony had 27 points on an efficient 8-of-15 shooting, having hit three of his five attempts from three-point range and eight of 10 from the line.

Immediately, Anthony looked to attack Patterson off the dribble. He drove past him for layup and it looked as though the experiment may be short-lived.

From that point on, Anthony made just two of his final eight shots, including one of four from long distance. He scored just five points over roughly 11 minutes and did not attempt a single free throw.

"His length and energy, his quickness and speed and his tenacity to deny it and forcing him way out to catch the ball and his overall defensive focus and understanding of where he is on the floor," Casey said of Patterson's work. "He did a magnificent job."

It's not a role Patterson is accustomed to, settling in as Toronto's stretch four off the bench, but it's one he could find himself in more often after Sunday's performance. "I told him he told on himself by guarding perimeter guys like that," Casey joked after the game.

"Yeah, this isn't my [role]," Patterson said humbly. "Normally it's [Johnson], DeMar, Terrence [Ross] or Landry and tonight it was my turn. It's enjoyable now. During that time, no, it wasn't enjoyable. It was a little nerve-racking. But now it's enjoyable. I'm smiling, I'm laughing, I'm enjoying my teammates encouraging me saying: 'Next time we play somebody like that we're going to put you on him'. Just joking like that. Right now it's enjoyable, it's a lot of fun."

"I think he's just shy," Kyle Lowry said of Patterson's modesty. "He's just shy. He [doesn't] want to play it [up] too much but it's impressive. We don't expect it from him every single night but on a night like this when he needed it and he gave it to us, it's just respect for what he did."

Patterson, finishing with 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting Sunday, has come on of late. He's scored in double figures in eight of the team's last nine games off the bench, shooting 56 per cent from beyond the arc during the month of the December. In addition to his surprisingly effective defence on Anthony, the fifth-year forward has been making big late-game plays on the offensive end, including a go-ahead three-pointer early in OT against the Knicks.

It wasn't pretty. The Raptors scored just 18 points in the second quarter, 14 in the fourth. They committed a season-high 24 turnovers, including Lowry's uncharacteristic nine miscues, and allowed the Knicks - shooting just 37 per cent - to hang around until the bitter end. But thanks to Patterson, as well as Ross and Lowry scoring 22 and 21 respectively, they were able to pull it out.

"It was one of those nights where everyone was struggling," Casey noted. "Nothing would go. The ball would hit your hands and fall out of bounds, fumble it out. It was one of those nights you just find a way to grind it out. We had so many mistakes on both sides, even defensively but if you are serious about winning, you find a way to get it done and our guys did it."

COACH DEROZAN

For the first week of his forced time off, DeRozan reluctantly spent most of his day sitting on the couch, playing video games and watching the sport that he's used to playing at the highest level.

Although there's still no timetable for his return to game action - he's missed eight straight contests with a groin tear - the Raptors' All-Star guard has had enough sitting around, looking for and taking advantage of every opportunity to stay involved with the team while he's sidelined.

DeRozan accompanied his teammates to New York, where he continued his rehab on the court at Madison Square Garden prior to the game. He has been doing core exercises with the trainers and shooting free throws after practice and before games for the latter half of this past week.

The 25-year-old has also been making his presence felt behind the scenes, sitting in on the coaches' meetings, something Casey had suggested shortly after DeRozan sustained his injury back on Nov. 28. DeRozan, in his sixth year with the Raptors, has been more than an observer, Casey said, calling him an active participant during these closed door sessions.

"We ask him questions and he participates," Casey said. "He's a sharp guy and he understands. The good thing about DeMar, he was here from day one when we put in the system so he understands what we're trying to do defensively, he understands what we're trying to do defensively. Probably more so than some of the coaches."

DeRozan, speaking to the media last weekend, had said he was looking forward to studying the game in a new way for as long as he's a spectator. He's confident that by spending this time - his first extended absence from basketball - watching through the eyes of a coach, he'll be better for it when he does return. Casey has seen it pay off before.

"I think it's very helpful for players to come into the coaches' meetings," Casey said. "They're always welcome. I remember in Seattle, Nate McMillan came into our coaches' meeting with George Karl and it was huge to hear his thought process of what we were doing as a team from a players' standpoint. And then lo and behold he turns around and becomes a coach. So it's very helpful."