Off one of their premiere wins of the season, the Raptors start their road trip and visit the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. The Knicks’ season was full of high hopes before Kristaps Porzingis went down with a season-ending injury. The Knicks haven’t been the same ever since as they struggle to even beat the sub .500 teams in the NBA. The Raptors are the best team in the NBA in beating sub .500 teams with a record of 28-2. The Raptors are looking to continue their 7-game winning streak.
The Raptors came out strong and were aggressively attacking the rim. The Knicks were playing hard and did not seem like a team with a 24-42 record. Both teams were moving the ball around and finding good looks on offense. JV was strong and decisive with his moves as he went to the line six times and made all six free throws in the first quarter. Jonas had 10 points in the first quarter and DeRozan chipped in with 7 points of his own. The Raptors were playing well on offense but were allowing too many transition buckets to the Knicks. Toronto won the quarter, 32-27, and took an early lead.
The Raptors attacked the rim early and often putting pressure on the Knicks interior defense.
Delon Wright returned back from injury after leaving the Houston game midway and he did not seem to miss a beat. The Bench Mob came in and pushed the pace instantly as usual. Siakam was pushing the bull similar to what Lamar Odom used to do for the Los Angeles Lakers back in 2009 & 2010. Siakam’s ball handling and vision has improved substantially from when the season began. The ball movement was excellent and the Raptors started to rain threes however, the starters were not able to keep up the same pace and ball movement. Lowry was struggling with his shot in this one and did not make a field goal in the first half. He picked up a technical foul while trash talking with Tim Hardaway Jr. as both players got a technical. Serge jumped in to defend his floor general and earned himself a technical as well. The Raptors closed out the quarter with a Malcolm Miller three in the corner to put them up, 65-57.
The second half began with Toronto picking up the defensive pressure and turning the Knicks over which the Raptors capitalized on. The ball movement was better in the third quarter and the shots were falling. DeRozan struggled with his shooting all game long but was able to find others for easy baskets. Kyle Lowry after picking up the technical in the first half was a man on a mission in the third. Lowry scored 12 in the decisive third quarter which gave the Raptors the cushion needed to put this game on cruise control. The bench came in near the end of the third and extended the lead further with their ball movement. The Raptors were able to create open looks and high percentage shots as Toronto closed the quarter on a 11-2 run. The Knicks were unable to keep up with the pace and fell behind quickly. The score going into the fourth was 102-86 with the Raptors accumulating 24 assists so far.
The starters sat out the fourth quarter after providing a strong third quarter to ice the game.
The story was the same in the fourth as the bench dominated the fourth quarter. The Bench Mob got time to rest in this game as Casey went deep into his bench on the night. New addition, Nigel Hayes, made an impact by dropping back-to-back threes and celebrated with a bow-and-arrow motion towards his former team’s bench. The Knicks had picked up Nigel Hayes and sent him back to the G-League in the past. Casey pulled Hayes aside during the timeout and gave him a pep talk about how we do not do things like that here. Hayes got the message and did not celebrate once after that. Casey is all about taking care of business and no foolish behaviour. The Raptors did exactly that as they took care of business and strolled to the easy win.
Toronto Raptors New York Knicks
132 106
Player of the Game
Pascal Siakam
18 minutes, 9 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 0 turnovers, 4/8 shooting, 0/0 3PT, 1/2 FT
There were many good choices for player of the game in this one, but Siakam’s all-around game is what made him the player of the game in this one. He filled up the box score and was a big impact in the Raptors pulling away in this game. There was no one on the Knicks team who could match up with his speed at his size. Pascal found Poeltl for easy looks at the rim and created good looks for his perimeter teammates all game long. The ability to become a coast-to-coast and ball-handling big man will be a great asset for the Toronto Raptors going forward.
Things To Take Away From This Game
1. Domination
The Raptors won every quarter of this game and did not give the Knicks any hope of a late game comeback. The bench was more dominant than the starters, but no player had a negative net rating on the night. This was an all-around solid game from player 1 to 13. Toronto earned themselves a solid game to rest and recuperate after playing long minutes in the Houston Rockets thriller a couple nights ago. Smooth and easy win as the Raptors extend the winning streak to 8.
2. Three-Point Shooting
The Raptors shot 16/35 which is 46% from the outside. The team had eight different players hit threes in this game and prevented the Knicks from hitting more than 7 threes. When the Raptors are clicking from the outside, it opens up huge driving lanes for both Kyle and DeMar where they can take advantage. Another good shooting night as the Raptors seem to have gotten off to a good rhythm from 3-point land.
3. Dwane Casey
Dwane Casey has been a mastermind in destroying sub .500 teams early and giving his starters rest throughout the season. A factor for getting the starters more rest is the amazing play from the bench. The bench has done this on numerous occasions where they have allowed the starters to sit out the fourth quarter and cheer them on from the bench. No Raptor played more than 28 minutes on the evening and there were 11 players on the team with double-digit minutes logged in. A great distribution of playing time allows everyone to get a rhythm and stay ready for the next one.
Dwane Casey has coached the team a strong 49-17 record so far and has done a remarkable job this season. He will be a coach of the year candidate.
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