The New York Knicks are amid a tough stretch of four games in five days, and that busy scenario took a toll in a pair of defeats over the weekend.

Derek Fisher’s squad traveled Friday night to take on the Philadelphia 76ers, and just one night after an overtime loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, they fell 97-81 on the road.

Then after one day of rest, they headed north to take on the Toronto Raptors, and they came up short in a 106-89 loss to one of the Eastern Conference’s top teams—which came on the first night of another back-to-back.

“We just have to keep holding these guys together and pushing them through,” Fish said after Friday night’s loss. “It’s a tough schedule, a tough stretch, but everybody on every team has to go through it at some point and we have to push through ours.”

FALLING IN PHILLY

One night after a deflating overtime loss at home, the Knicks hit the road and didn’t bring what they needed to earn a victory in hostile territory.

The Knicks shot just 36.2 percent and yielded 15 offensive rebounds, while coughing up 20 turnovers, leading to 29 easy points for Philly.

“They were quicker to the ball, they were more aggressive, they were more physical, more athletic,” Derek said of the Sixers. “They got 20 more shots at the basket, and we had 20 turnovers that led to 29 of those points. It’s hard to defend when you turn the ball over that much.”

New York also allowed Sixers rookie center Nerlens Noel to tally a career-high 23 points, while adding 14 rebounds, five steals and three blocks. He went 5-of-6 for 12 points in the first quarter, as the 76ers claimed a 29-23 lead after one.

Alexey Shved was the catalyst for New York. He countered with a career-high 25 points on the night on an impressive 7-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc. The dynamic guard added six rebounds and three assists, and his 16 first-half points buoyed New York early.

The Knicks were down just 54-48 at the half, but the turnovers quickly became an issue in the third quarter. New York gave it away seven times in the third quarter, leading to 10-1 Sixer run midway through the frame. That helped the home team take an 80-66 advantage into the fourth.

While Shved was on fire for the Knicks, his guard partner in the starting lineup, Langston Galloway, couldn’t find his usual rhythm. The talented first-year player out of Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia went cold in his former city, shooting just 1-of-8.

In New York’s previous trip to Philly, Galloway tallied 11 points and nailed a clutch, dagger three late in the game. Afterward, Derek talked about how Galloway and the rest of the young Knicks are still learning to develop consistency even in tough stretches of their schedule.

“Langston’s continuing to understand how difficult it is to sustain good performance in this league,” D-Fish explained. “On a back-to-back and in another three games in four nights type of stretch, and it’s impacting a lot of our guys. But that’s what becoming good in this league is about: finding ways to push through that. Langston and all of our guys just have to keep learning how to push themselves physically and mentally.”

With his Knicks down 97-79 with 29 seconds to go, Derek saw yet another learning opportunity for his crew. So he called a quick timeout to ensure that his squad was approaching that last possession as if the game were still tied. On the ensuing play, Galloway missed a jumper, but the Knicks gathered the offensive board, and Quincy Acy eventually went to the line and cashed in the final two points of the game.

“I just called a timeout to make sure that we played the last possession out the right way,” Coach Fish explained. “We have some young guys who think that when we’re behind that way that maybe we don’t want to go down and try and score. And I wanted to make sure we played until the clock ran out.”

TOPPED BY TORONTO

With two of New York’s dynamic young players, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Cleanthony Early, already sidelined with injuries, the Knicks added to their injury report against the Raptors.

Reserve big man Travis Wear was limited by back spasms on the night, and Shved, who has been one of the squad’s most consistent forces in recent games, suffered bruised ribs. Coach Fish gave a full report afterward.

“Alexey bruised his ribs,” Derek said. “He had X-rays, which were negative for any other damage, so he’ll probably be day-to-day. Then Travis Wear is basically back spasms—his back tightened up there at the end of the game. For now, both of those guys will be day-to-day.”

With Shved out, the Knicks needed to look elsewhere for production against one of the East’s best—and that came from Lance Thomas. The former Duke Blue Devil came through with a career night, tallying 24 points off 9-of-12 shooting from the floor.

“I thought Lance was aggressive at the right times and I think that’s what’s been great about him since he’s been with us,” Derek said. “He kind of came in at the middle of the season and didn’t really know a lot about what we were doing. He’s just taking advantage of the opportunities that are there and not trying to do too much. He brings it on both ends of the floor, and that’s why we like having him.”

Andrea Bargnani was the only other Knick in double figures, tallying 16 points. Shved and Galloway each added nine, as did Shane Larkin off the bench. New addition Ricky Ledo went 2-of-5 for six points, and he too earned some praise from Coach Fish.

“I thought Ricky handled the minutes well,” Fish said. “It’s tough to go out there and only know portions of what you need to do. He’s a guy who can put the ball in the basket and do some things on the offensive end, and over the next week, as he gets more opportunities, I think he’ll get more and more comfortable.”

Despite the best efforts of Shved, Bargnani and Thomas early on, the Raptors worked their way to a commanding lead going into the locker room. Behind 15 points from DeMar DeRozan and a combined 17 from Tyler Hansbrough and Terrence Ross, the Raps were up 56-41 at halftime.

Thomas led the way with nine points in the third quarter, helping the team to shoot 52.6 percent. He played all 12 minutes and was a force defensively as well, as the Raptors turned the ball over six times and tallied just 18 points.

New York had it chipped down to just an eight-point deficit, 74-66, going into the fourth quarter. Ledo came up big early in that final frame, connecting on a three and then an and-one layup, cutting the deficit to just six, 78-72.

However, the Raptors responded with a playoff-caliber run. Toronto scored the next 12 points, a run that was broken by a trifecta from Galloway—but it was too little too late.

“It’s tough to play from behind as long as we did,” Derek said. “They kept fighting and got the game to within two possessions and it was a tough time to foul and give up an and-one to get the lead back to nine. Then those next four possessions, we couldn’t find a way to score. They fought back and gave ourselves a little bit of a chance, but as we were losing bodies and playing from behind, it was just a tough go.”

NEXT UP

The Knicks (14-56) will have a quick turnaround as they come home to host one of the Western Conference’s best Monday night: the Memphis Grizzlies (49-21).

The Grizz topped the Knicks 105-83 earlier this year, and they’ve been playing tremendous basketball all season. They’ll head to MSG after having won four of their last five, most recently a 97-86 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday night.

Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. ET from the Garden.

RELATED LINKS

• Fisher on Knicks loss & Shved injury (MSG, March 22, 2015)
• Fisher on Knicks loss: 76ers were more aggressive (MSG, March 20, 2015)
• Noel leads 76ers to win over Knicks (AP, March 20, 2015)
• DeRozan scores 23, Raptors rout Knicks (AP, March 22, 2015)
• Knicks at Sixers: Game Book (NBA.com, March 20, 2015)
• Knicks at Raptors: Game Book (NBA.com, March 22, 2015)