The Knicks built an early 24-point lead, and after a rough second quarter, bounced back to pull away for a 116-94 win over the Toronto Raptors on Sunday night.
Here are some takeaways…
— Making his seventh start of the season, Miles McBride hit four three-pointers in the first five minutes of the game to put the Knicks up on the Raptors. Following his fourth three, McBride had made 14 of his last 17 attempts from beyond the arc (h/t Fred Katz). The hot hand started to spread as Jalen Brunson hit his first three-pointer of the night, scored inside, and hit a baseline jump shot.
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Josh Hart was then left unguarded at the three-point line and took it in for an easy two-hand slam as New York took a 32-17 lead and Toronto called a timeout with just under three minutes left in the first quarter. Clarkson hit two straight three-pointers and forced another timeout, but it didn’t help, as Guerschon Yabusele buried the Knicks’ ninth three of the first quarter. They led 41-22 thanks to shooting 64 percent from deep (9-for-14) compared to the Raptors’ 13 percent (1-for-8).
— Tyler Kolek was all over the place to start the second quarter, grabbing an offensive rebound, scoring inside, and getting a steal. Hart kept the impressive shooting going with the team’s tenth three of the game, but Scottie Barnes made three straight three-pointers of his own, causing Mike Brown to talk things over with his group. The Raptors continued on a 14-0 run to cut the lead to 10 points before McBride hit a jumper.
After Sandro Mamukelashvili and Toronto made it a five-point game, the Knicks grabbed three consecutive offensive rebounds and finally capitalized with Mikal Bridges hitting his second three-pointer of the game. Brunson shook off a cold quarter with an and-one jumper and then got a steal, leading to a Hart bucket inside to push the lead back to double digits.
— Barnes dunked it with a second left as the Raptors won the second quarter, 30-18, and trailed by just seven points, 59-52, at halftime. The Knicks’ hot three-point shooting disappeared in the second quarter, going 2-for-14 from deep. McBride still led the team with 14 points, while Brunson had 10 and Barnes paced Toronto with 16 points, including a perfect 4-for-4 from three.
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— Former Knick Immanuel Quickly scored five straight for the Raptors in the third quarter before Brunson countered with a scoop, and-one layup. Quickly then started chirping at Brunson and hit two more three-pointers to cut New York’s lead to five points. He finished with 19 points for the game.
— Hart stepped up in the third and scored eight straight points, including back-to-back threes. Bridges dunked it on the fastbreak to ignite the team and go up 84-68 with four minutes left in the quarter as New York continued on a 16-1 run to grow their lead back. Hart made another three-pointer with under a minute remaining to give him 20 points and the Knicks led 93-77 after three quarters.
— Kolek connected with Clarkson and Karl-Anthony Towns for big dunks early on in the fourth quarter, while Brandon Ingram made back-to-back threes to keep the Raptors close. Mitchell Robinson showed hustle and grabbed multiple offensive rebounds, but missed his foul shot and Towns recorded an O-board of his own and scored inside. KAT then made his first three-pointer of the game to push the NY lead to 23 points, 106-83, with seven minutes left in the contest.
The Knicks were able to empty the bench for the final 3:37 and held on to win, 116-94. Towns shook off early shooting struggles to lead the team in scoring with 22 points, while Brunson finished with 18 points on 6-for-19 shooting. New York dominated the rebounding battle, 61-40, including 25 offensive rebounds (seven from Robinson) — their most in a game since 2019.
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Game MVP: Josh Hart
Hart was all over the place against the Raptors, giving the Knicks much-needed energy in the third quarter after a bad end to the first half. He finished with 20 points, including four three-pointers, 12 rebounds, seven assists, and three steals.
Highlights
What’s next
The Knicks travel up to Boston to face the Celtics on Tuesday night at 8:00 p.m.