THE Knicks took an early 24-point lead and, after a tough second quarter, bounced back to earn a 116-94 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Sunday night.
Here are some points to remember…
— Making his seventh start of the season, Miles McBride scored four three-pointers in the first five minutes of the game to put the Knicks ahead of the Raptors. After his fourth triple, McBride had made 14 of his last 17 attempts from beyond the arc (with Fred Katz). The hot hand began 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 hit a two-handed single 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 made two straight three-pointers and forced another timeout, but it didn’t help, as Guerschon Yabusélé buried the Knicks’ ninth three of the first quarter. They led 41-22 on 64 percent shooting from deep (9-for-14), compared to 13 percent for the Raptors (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 up the impressive shooting with the team’s tenth three-three of the game, but Scottie Barnes scored three consecutive three-pointers, causing Mike Brown to chat with his group. The Raptors went on a 14-0 run to cut the lead to 10 points before McBride hit a jumper.
After Sandro Mamukelashvili and Toronto scored five points, the Knicks grabbed three consecutive offensive rebounds and finally capitalized with Mikal Bridges hitting his second three-pointer of the game. Brunson had a cold quarter with an and-one jumper, then got a steal, leading to a Hart bucket inside to bring the lead back to double digits.
– Barnes had a dunk with one second left as the Raptors won the second quarter, 30-18, and trailed by just seven points, 59-52, at halftime. The Knicks’ three-point shooting disappeared in the second quarter, going 2 of 14 from deep. McBride still led the team with 14 points, while Brunson had 10 and Barnes led Toronto with 16 points, including a perfect 4-for-4 from three.
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— Former Knick Emmanuel quickly scored five straight for the Raptors in the third quarter before Brunson responded with a scoop and a layup. Quickly, he then began chirping Brunson and made two more three-pointers to cut New York’s lead to five points. He finished the match with 19 points.
— Hart came on in the third and scored eight straight points, including three in a row. Bridges dunk it on the fast break to ignite the team and go up 84-68 with four minutes left in the quarter as New York went on a 16-1 run to regain its lead. Hart made another three-pointer with less than a minute to play to give him 20 points and the Knicks led 93-77 after three quarters.
— Kolek connected with Clarkson and Cities of Karl-Anthony for big dunks early in the fourth quarter, while Brandon Ingram made it three straight to keep the Raptors close. Mitchell Robinson looked flustered and grabbed several offensive rebounds, but missed his foul shot and Towns recorded his own O-board and scored inside. KAT then made his first three-pointer of the game to extend New York’s lead to 23 points, 106-83, with seven minutes remaining in the contest.
The Knicks were able to empty the bench for the final 3:37 and held on to win, 116-94. Towns overcame early shooting struggles to lead the team with 22 points, while Brunson finished with 18 points on 6-of-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 everywhere against the Raptors, giving the Knicks some much-needed energy in the third quarter after a poor 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 will travel to Boston to face the Celtics on Tuesday night at 8:00 p.m.
