Karl-Anthony Towns scored 27 points and pulled down 20 rebounds, and Jalen Brunson knocked down crucial buckets to finish with 28 of his own as the Knicks held on to beat the Raptors, 121-115, Tuesday night in Toronto.
New York held a 23-point lead in the third and pushed its edge back to 16 just three minutes into the fourth before Toronto cut the deficit to four points with under six minutes to play as New York went 0-for-7 from the floor with two turnovers.
A Brunson jumper and Towns lay-up (around a Raptors three) set up the game’s final four minutes with the Knicks up just five. But a once listless Raptors side whittled the lead down to just one before Josh Hart won a jump ball in the offensive zone, collected his own miss, and knocked down the first of back-to-back buckets to ensure the Knicks never lost what once looked like an insurmountable lead.
Brunson sealed the deal with a tough stepback jumper and (after another Towns rebound) a pull-up three with 26 seconds left to seal the game.
On the second night of a back-to-back, the Knicks did their best to dip twice with a commanding lead on second-chance points – 18-0 in the first half. But the legs appeared heavy after the halftime interval as New York shot 47 percent (22-for-47) and got just six second-chance points in the second half. And the Canadian hosts began to get many more looks at the cup, shooting 56 percent (23-for-41) in the second half after shooting 48 percent (20-for-42) in the first.
The Knicks shot just 10-for-26 (38 percent) in the fourth as the win nearly slipped through their fingers.
With the win, Tom Thibodeau‘s team completed the four-game series sweep over the Raptors (the second straight year they’ve achieved that feat) and improved to 34-17 on the year with their seventh win in the last eight games. Toronto fell to 16-34.
Here are the takeaways…
– Towns, also meeting a physical Toronto defense in the first, was doing his best work on the offensive glass with four rebounds on that end to give him seven points in the game’s first six minutes. On the first possession of the second, Towns got poked in the eye by Kelly Olynyk and a few plays later exited the game. He returned soon after and had tallied a double-double just four minutes into the quarter. His quality in the post continued to shine through with an and-1 to give him 20 points and 15 rebounds (six offensive) in the first half.
A quiet third followed with no shots (two free throws), two rebounds and an assist, but he finished with 27 on 10-for-19 shooting, 20 rebounds (nine offensive) with two assists and was a plus-13 in 39 minutes, connecting on a big three in the fourth.
– Brunson struggled for influence in the game’s early goings as former Knick Immanuel Quickley was hounding the All-Star all over the court, picking him up at 94 feet. He scored seven of his nine first-quarter points with Towns on the bench. Brunson had 14 points at the half to go along with two assists, while playing the fewest minutes of the Knicks’ starters (14:35).
Brunson was just 5-for-12 from the field in the second half, but the buckets were crucial as the Knicks’ lost their big lead He added five assists and was a plus-1 in 34 minutes.
– Hart had a very quiet game as he started 0-for-4 from the floor (he didn’t score in the first half) and didn’t grab his first rebound until there was just 2:24 left in the first half.
Hart went 4-for-6 in the third with all of his buckets coming at the hoop. Knocking down a corner three to start the fourth gave him 11 in the game. Hart went 3-for-7 in the fourth to finish with 15 pints (7-for-17 overall) with seven rebounds and six assists and was a plus-3 in 37 minutes.
– Mikal Bridges, who turned his ankle in Monday night’s win, had a very quiet opening quarter with just two free throws and two missed shots. The Ironman and his lengthy consecutive game streak didn’t let the ankle hold him down too long as he went 3-for-3 in the second and helped build a 10-point Knick lead.
Bridges went 4-for-7 in the second half and finished with 17 on the night and was a team-high plus-14 in 41 minutes. So much for that gimpy ankle.
– Precious Achiuwa got the nod for OG Anunoby, who didn’t travel for the game due to a foot sprain, did a lot of the dirty work with three boards and three steals to go along with 10 points in the first half, but he picked up his third foul with just under five to play in the half.
He would foul out in the game’s final minute, finishing with 17 points on 7-for-11 shooting with eight rebounds, three steals, two assists and two blocks but with three turnovers he was a minus-12 in 36 minutes.
– Ariel Hukporti came off the bench at the midway point of the first quarter. After an uneven night against the Rockets, Hukporti fared better with two buckets and two rebounds in the first period. With Achiuwa in foul trouble, the young German got some time playing alongside Towns and stood out for all the right reasons: solid defense and a pair of loud dunks.
The night after he was a minus-14 in eight minutes, Hukporti was a plus-8 in 19 minutes and finished with six points, two assists and five rebounds including the game’s final one.
Cam Payne was the next man to enter and had the biggest impact in the first with seven points and three assists and gave the Knicks their first lead early in the second after an 11-4 run. He finished 1-for-5 from the floor and was a plus-5 in 13 minutes thanks to his six assists.
– Quarter breakdown: New York trailed 34-30 at the end of one, despite being outshot by Toronto 62 percent (13-for-21) to 38 percent (13-for-27).
A 16-4 run to close the second put the Knicks up 68-51 at the half as they shot 60 percent (12-for-20) and held the Raptors to 33 percent (7-for-21) in the frame.
New York pushed the lead to 23 in the third, but Toronto answered with a 14-2 run and got the deficit to 12 entering the final stanza after outscoring the Knicks 35-30.
The Knicks were outscored 29-23 in the fourth, as the home team connected on 10-for-19 from the floor, but they missed four straight three-point attempts (thanks to three offensive rebounds) in the game’s final half minute.
Highlights
What’s next
The Knicks have a few days off – with the NBA trade deadline in between – before they head to Boston to play the Celtics on Saturday night with tip scheduled for 8:30 p.m.
