Although it wasn’t Amar’e Stoudemire who opened eyes, but instead Toronto’s Andrea Bargnani who dominated the Knicks, scoring 20 points, leading the Raptors to a 107-88 win over the Knicks.

May 9, 2012; Miami, FL, USA; New York Knicks power forward Amare Stoudemire (left) with small forward Carmelo Anthony (right) after Stoudemire fouls out of the game during the second half of game five in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals against the Miami Heat of the 2012 NBA Playoffs at the American Airlines Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE

Bargnani got off to a good start last season, but was limited to only 31 games last season because of calf strains. He was back in the Raptors’ starting lineup after he bruised his left calf and departed in the third quarter of Toronto’s 104-101 victory over Washington on Wednesday.

Toronto has won three in a row and improved to 4-1 on the preseason, outscoring New York 30-20 in the third quarter to take command of the game. Kyle Lowry finished with 17 points for Toronto and Amir Johnson contributed 14.

Carmelo Anthony led the Knicks with 24 points followed by Stoudemire’s 18 in his preseason debut after missing New York’s first two games because of pain in his left knee.

After shooting the light’s out in their opening preseason game, shooting has been an issue for the Knicks since, who knocked down only 5-of-27 (.185) attempts from behind the arc and shot only 65.4 percent from the free-throw line on the night.

Anthony led the team in rebounds with six and also had two blocks, while point guard Pablo Prigioni led the Knicks in assists with five and steals (2).

James White got the start at the 2 while the likes of Rasheed Wallace, Marcus Camby, J.R and Chris Smith, Ronnie Brewer and Iman Shumpert all did not play due to recent injuries.

It was also the first look for the Knicks at former teammate Landry Fields in a Raptors’ uniform. Fields started and finished with six points, five rebounds, five assists and a pair of steals on 3-of-9 shooting.

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Sadly, Big Al goes in for the layup even if it means shoving others aside. (Source: Yardbarker)

Maybe all the cold weather in New York this year has made the Knicks think it’s still Christmas, ‘cuz they’ve been non-stop giving out the gift of victories to any team that comes near them.  The New Jersey Nets, who had won only 6 our of 61 games, were on a path to be the team with the worst record in NBA history.  The previous record low is only 9 games (out of an 82 game season) held by Washington in like 1982 or something (their leading scorer was Fred Carter).  If the Nets kept at that 6 of 61 pace, they not only would’ve been unable to win more than those 9 games, they wouldn’t have even won 9.  Now though at 7 of 62 after we let them whup us on Saturday, suddenly they’re on pace to out-do those 9 games.  Not a bad gift from their cross-river rivals?  This is one mark in the record book for which ya don’t wanna become famous.

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