Toronto Raptors forward Chris Bosh was taken to hospital with severe stomach cramps about an hour before Friday night's home game against the New York Knicks was to start.

Head coach Jay Triano said the 25-year-old couldn't straighten up.

Bosh had missed Toronto's previous six games with a sprained left ankle.

He did not participate in the team's morning workout and about an hour before tip-off, Triano said Bosh was inside the Air Canada Centre but added the star player "won't be for long."

"Going to the hospital to get checked out," Triano said. "See what's going on and why he's not feeling any better."

With their star forward sidelined six games by a sprained left ankle, Toronto (31-28) struggled defensively, allowing opponents to average 113.2 points over the last five games and losing the last four.

Before Bosh got hurt, the Raptors had won eight of 10. He didn't make the trip to Houston on Monday as Toronto lost 116-92, and will yet again be unavailable to a Toronto team only three games ahead of ninth-place Charlotte in the East.

"We have 23 games left," Bosh said earlier Friday. "You lose two or three in a row and you're on the outside looking in. … It's going to be a photo finish at the end and every game is important now. This is the part of the season I've been waiting on."

Bosh is averaging team highs of 24.5 points and 11.4 rebounds.

2 wins in 12 games

Bosh finished with 27 points and 15 rebounds in a 106-104 win at Madison Square Garden on Jan. 28 in the most recent meeting. Bosh has averaged 23.4 points in his last 20 matchups with New York and the Raptors have gone 15-5.

The Knicks (21-39) are coming off their second win in 12 games, 128-104 over Detroit on Wednesday. They shot 55.3 percent and had four players score at least 20 points.

Bill Walker, who made his first career start in place of Wilson Chandler (personal reasons), had a career-high 22 points while Al Harrington went 6 of 8 from 3-point range and scored 26.

Harrington is averaging 28.0 points in the last four games while shooting 57.1 percent (20 of 35) from 3-point range.

The Knicks also received a solid performance from Tracy McGrady, who had 21 points, eight assists and seven rebounds in his seventh game with his new team. Still making his way back from knee surgery, McGrady scored six points combined in his previous two games.

"Today was one of those days where I actually felt like my old self as far as my movements and my timing and everything, my rhythm," McGrady said. "I felt like I had another step."

New York, allowing an average of 113.0 points on 50.9 percent shooting over the last 12 games, is looking to win back-to-back contests for the first time since a three-game winning streak Jan. 1-7.