ist for quite a long time.One concern for the Knicks this s

TORONTO -- The Toronto Raptors are hot, the Atlanta Hawks are not.The teams meet Saturday night at Air Canada Centre with the Raptors trying to extend their season-best five-game winning streak and the Hawks attempting to stop a five-game losing streak.The Raptors led all the way Friday night in defeating the Los Angeles Lakers 113-80 at the ACC and the Hawks lost to the Detroit Pistons 121-85 at Philips Arena.The Raptors (13-6) will be playing the fourth game of a season-long six-game homestand at the ACC, where they are 7-3 this season.The Hawks (10-10) have lost eight of their past nine games, with the only win coming Nov. 23 at Indiana to the Pacers.They were 9-2 and tied for the Eastern Conference lead after defeating the Milwaukee Bucks on Nov. 16.Dennis Schroder had 17 points and 13 assists for the Hawks on Friday. Tim Hardaway Jr. and Mike Muscala each scored 11.The Raptors likely will have forward DeMarre Carroll back in the lineup. His playing time is being monitored as he entered the season coming off knee surgery.Carroll was rested Friday night to avoid playing him in back-to-back games with Norman Powell replacing him and responding with 16 points and seven rebounds.It was not certain which game Carroll would miss.Powell said after the game that he found out during the shootaround on Friday.From there, it was just preparing and getting focused on who Im guarding and what the team wants me to do defensively to take them out of what they are trying to run, Powell said.Hed been a professional young man, Raptors coach Dwane Casey said after Fridays game. He puts the work in at game tempo, usually when guys are not playing they kind of go through the motions, feel sorry for themselves. But this young man comes in every day, puts in the work, puts in the time, keeps a positive attitude, understands the situation when winning and is just waiting his turn.Just like last year, he was in the D-League for a while and came in and helps us win a (playoff) series. He understands, a mature young man, and I cant say enough good things about him.He will understand if he does not start Saturday.In the Raptors romp past the Lakers, Kyle Lowry again led the way with 24 points. DeMar DeRozan had 16 points as he receives extra attention after a blistering start.Meanwhile, against the Pistons, Dwight Howard had his worst game with the Hawks, scoring only two points and grabbing six rebounds.Weve got to stay positive, Howard said. This little thing we are going through now, even though we dont want to, I think its best we are going through it now and not at the end of the season.All the things we need to clean up, offensively and defensively, are being exposed right now. It gives us time to work on it. So come playoff time and later on in the season, well have all that down pat.The best thing we can do now is not hold our heads, keep positive, speak life into the situation and keep pushing.Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer is obviously not happy with the offense.We are not getting the looks that we need to get, he said. Then I think it puts a lot of pressure when you do get a good look. There is more of a priority, more of a need, to make those good ones.The game gets hard that way. You want to be free-flowing. I dont think we are getting enough good possessions to make those good looks flow right. NFL Jerseys From China . -- Matt Ryan needed one of the best games of his career to lead the Falcons and their depleted offence out of their three-game losing streak last week. Wholesale NFL Jerseys . -- There were so many positives from the Orlando Magics first victory of the season that it was hard for coach Jacque Vaughn to stop praising his players. http://www.nbajerseyschinawholesale.com/ . On Mar. 16, coming off a "fight of the year" performance at UFC 154 the previous November, St-Pierre faced Nick Diaz at UFC 158 in what would be his eighth defence of the welterweight title. Using his superior athleticism, St-Pierre cruised to a five round, unanimous decision victory setting up a much-anticipated title defence against number one contender Johny Hendricks. Cheap Jerseys . It was hard for Luck to pull off another comeback, or even get into the end zone, while standing on the sideline. Rivers threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to rookie Keenan Allen and Nick Novak kicked four field goals to give the Chargers a 19-9 victory against the Colts on Monday night. Cheap NFL Jerseys China .Y. -- Buffalo Bills coach Doug Marrone has drawn on his Syracuse connections once again by hiring Rob Moore to take over as receivers coach. GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- Phil Jackson says that a recent conversation with New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony factored into his decision to take a win now approach with the team this summer.In a meeting after the season, Jackson asked Anthony, 32, if the Knicks were moving quickly enough to meet Anthonys timeline to win. Jackson said Anthonys response conveyed that hes getting into an age where things have to happen for him, so we decided to activate ourselves.Jackson moved quickly, acquiring Derrick Rose in a trade late last month and signing veterans Joakim Noah, Courtney Lee and Brandon Jennings in free agency.All three players were introduced at the team practice facility on Friday. The club also announced the signings of reserve forward Lance Thomas, European big man Willy Hernangomez and summer leaguer Marshall Plumlee.Jackson and the rest of the front office believe that theyve put together a team with a little more experience [and] a little more competitive power than in seasons past.The Knicks won a total of 49 games in Jacksons first two full years as team president, which already has included two head coaches.Jackson shied away from making playoff predictions on Friday but said the club would be more competitive than last season, when the Knicks wwon just 32 games and missed the playoffs for the third consecutive year.ddddddddddddWe like this team, Jackson said. Joakim Noah has been somebody thats been on my list for quite a long time.One concern for the Knicks this season will be the possibility of injuries. Rose has played in 39 percent of possible games since the start of the 2013-14 season because of several knee injuries. Noah was limited to 29 games last season because of left-shoulder injuries, and Jennings missed nearly 12 months because of a torn left Achillies.There are some guys who have had injury issues in the past, we think weve added enough depth and we feel confident as we do our due diligence medically, Knicks general manager Steve Mills said. We feel good about our ability to withstand a season and have a competitive team.Mills said the clubs win now approach this summer was taken with Kristaps Porzingis in mind. Some assumed that the Knicks would rebuild slowly around Porzingis, a 20-year-old who will enter his second season, but Mills said he believes that the best thing we can do to help him develop is to put him in a culture of winning basketball. ' ' '