Raptors take care of short-handed Knicks

The New York Knicks came into this game after tragically losing their All-Star to an ACL injury in the previous game against the Milwaukee Bucks. Jeff Hornacek said after witnessing the injury that it was devastating for both Kristaps and the team. The Raptors come into this game on a 3-game winning streak and finishing off the last game of their 4-game home stand. The bench had been superb in the past few games and hoping to keep it rolling.

Five players off the bench finished in double-digits as the bench blew out the Knicks.

The game started off quite even with JV producing well in the post and from the outside once again. The Raptors took off to a quick 23-18 lead after the first quarter. The Knicks were going through Michael Beasley who has taken a larger load of the offense. He produced quite well on the night as he scored 21 points and added 7 rebounds on the night. The second quarter was the same as it has always bene in the past few games. The Bench Mob came in and used their energy, ball movement and defensive pressure to quickly jump out to extend the lead. Everyone on the bench was contributing and with CJ in this lineup, it works much better than with Norman in the lineup. The Raptors went into halftime up 52-41.

The second half started, and the starters were playing the Knicks tough. The shooting from the outside was not efficient and the Raptors picked up a couple technical fouls out of frustration. DeMar complained about a non-foul call and the Ibaka picked up a tech for arguing a loose ball foul. The game hovered throughout the quarter around a 10-point deficit for the Knicks. Both teams were playing evenly and were trading baskets. Serge Ibaka who had a strong first half with 10 points and 6 rebounds, cooled off in the second half and finished the game with 13 points and 8 rebounds. A decent night from the starting power forward. Jonas collected another double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds as he contributed on both sides of the court. The starters took a 16-point lead into the fourth. The starters played with little defensive effort and took bad shots throughout the quarter. Lowry and DeRozan were struggling all night.

Jonas was productive on both sides of the court and was the most consistent starter.

The Bench Mob came in and finished this game off. The bench played head and shoulders better than the starters again. The ball movement, energy, defensive pressure and spacing is much better than the starters. The Raptors hit 16 threes on the night, but the starters shoot more tougher and bad shot selection threes. The bench makes the ball move around and the open shot was usually a three-point shot. It was easy to tell from the box score that the bench was the key in this game as the Bench Mob were all in double digits in scoring. Wright, VanVleet, Miles, Siakam, and Poeltl have a great chemistry going and is the life support of this team. They always provide a jolt of energy and give the starters a lead or cut deficits quickly for them to win the game. The Raptors were up by as much as 30 in the fourth quarter as ran out the clock to end the game. Final Score: Toronto 113 – 88 New York

Jakob Poeltl and the Raptors took advantage of the absent rim protection without Porzingis.

Valiant effort from the short-handed New York Knicks who were without Porzingis, Kanter, and Baker. Dwane Casey after the game praised how hard the Knicks played even without their key players. Dwane was also asked about the struggles of his All-Star backcourt and if he is going to focus on getting them going in the upcoming games. Dwane responded that they don’t draw up individual play calls as much anymore, and that they will get it going soon enough. The new fine-tuned Raptors offense can withstand the struggles of the best two players and still come up with a 25-point win. This was great news for a Raptors team who have struggled mightily in the past whenever DeRozan and Lowry were off their game. Another great win in the books and onto Charlotte on Sunday.

The All-Star backcourt struggled once again shooting the ball. They have been in a sort of slump recently and this does not help DeRozan’s MVP case as he is not the one that is carrying the team to wins. The backcourt is passing the ball around and helping on the boards which is great to see. If your shot isn’t going down, always great to make an impact on the team in other ways. Combined the backcourt of Lowry and DeRozan shot 4/21 on the night and combined for 15 points. If I told you this at the beginning of the game, you would think it was a blowout for the Knicks and they won this game handily.

Pictures courtesy of: http://www.nba.com/raptors/gallery/rapsknicks-020818