Raptors Fall To Knicks In Rematch

The Toronto Raptors fell to the New York Knicks 120-122 at Madison Square Garden. Despite coming off a 50-point victory against the Knicks on Tuesday, the Raptors couldn’t produce a similar performance.

The Knicks fielded a significantly stronger lineup tonight, which featured their usual starting five, except for guard Josh Hart, who did not suit up due to injury. The Raptors would do the same, starting the same five from the last game.

Raptors forward Scottie Barnes would get things started, scoring nine out of the 12 baskets and going 4/4 from the field. Both teams continued to trade baskets as the quarter progressed. The Knicks were finding a lot of success with their ball movement, whereas the Raptors ‘ three-point shooting was difficult to slow down. The Knicks would carry a three-point lead into the break.

The second quarter showed the Knicks bench carrying the load as they jumped out to a quick eight-point lead. The Raptors eventually found their footing and would battle back. Barnes remained the focal point for the Raptors as he would continue to play well. He finished the half with 15 points, two rebounds, and three assists, while being 6/10 from the field and 3/3 on three-pointers.

For the Knicks, centre Karl-Anthony Towns was giving the Raptors all sorts of trouble with his scoring ability in the paint and his flashy passes, contributing to the 63-58 halftime lead.

Coming out of half, it was a committee of Raptors, including forward Kawhi Leonard and former Knicks duo RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley, who would contribute to an eight-point lead. The Raptors had more success on offence when Quickley, Barrett, Leonard, Barnes, and centre Collin Murray-Boyles were the five on the floor, something to keep an eye on when the regular season starts.  

The quarter would resume with both teams trading baskets, though Toronto looked to be the stronger team. This would be the case until New York exploded for a nine point unanswered run late in the frame to take the 87-79 lead into the final quarter of play.

The final quarter of play started with both teams still having their strongest lineup out there. Barnes and Barrett would continue to add to their strong outings, though it seemed that everything the Raptors did well, the Knicks would do even better. Both teams would opt to put in bench players late in the game to give them valuable minutes.

This would prove worthy to the Raptors, as guard Malachi Smith would hit two crucial three-pointers and a three point play from second-round pick Jaden Bradley would cut the Knicks lead to two. A crucial backcourt violation error for New York would give the Raptors a great opportunity to win the game, though some inspiring Knicks defending would shut the door as time out run out.

An unfortunate result for the Raptors tonight as they played well for the majority of the game. They struggled heavily with on-court communication. Barnes (23 points, three rebounds, four assists and four blocks) and Barrett (21 points, eight rebounds, four assists) were the Raptors standouts and the younger guys in the squad showed reliability, resulting in some positive takeaways from tonight’s match.

The Raptors will have one more preseason game to fix their mistakes as they take on the Detroit Pistons on Friday. Tip-off is set for 7 pm.