Down two key players and facing a chance to lose three in a row entering a major road swing, the Knicks pulled out a strong win against the Toronto Raptors, 136-130, at Madison Square Garden.
Here are the takeaways...
- Julius Randle was hot from start to finish, scoring 34 points, grabbing eight rebounds and dishing five assists on 14-of-21 shooting. RJ Barrett had a season high 27 points on 11-of-21 shooting from the field and went 3 for 8 from deep.
- Jalen Brunson added 21 points and nine assists but gave up seven turnovers. Quentin Grimes and Josh Hart stepped up big time with Mitchell Robinson and Immanuel Quickley out, putting up 19 points and 16-6-8, respectively.
- OG Anunoby led the way for Toronto with 29 points, and three other Raptors -- Pascal Siakam, Scottie Barnes and Dennis Schroder -- each contributed 20.
- The starting unit's defense with Jericho Sims in place of Robinson and Donte DiVincenzo in his second game in for Grimes looked shaky off the bat. Luckily their offense made up for it. Randle got off to a scalding start, scoring 13 on 5-of-7 shooting in the opening minutes, including back-to-back turnaround midrange fadeaways over Barnes, who could only wave at and shrug off the buckets.
- Toronto got plenty of looks themselves, many at the expense of Randle's lackadaisical defense. Each of its five starters scored at least five in the opening period, as the game was tied at 35 after one.
- Grimes looked super comfortable in his second run off the bench, burying three three-pointers and driving strong twice all en route to a 13-point start to the second quarter. Hart and DiVincenzo played distributors in Quickley's absence, with four and three assists in the first half, respectively.
- Toronto started to cool off as the half wore on, but stayed competitive behind 12 offensive boards and a balanced scoring effort. The Knicks led going into the break 66-60 behind 20 from Randle.
- It took the Raptors less than four minutes to take their first lead since the opening minutes of the game, behind a pair of Anunoby slams and a flat Knicks start to the half. New York rebounded off an early timeout, creating looks in transition and riding more strong play out of Randle to retake control around the midway mark.
- On one play, Randle hit a one-legged turnaround fade on the baseline, hitting it plus the foul on Anunoby. But the Raptors kept fighting, as the Knicks held a narrow one-point lead entering the fourth quarter.
- New York kicked off the fourth strong. Barrett continued his timely scoring with multiple strong drives and a three, while Miles McBride made the most of his minutes on the defensive end.
- They built as much as a seven-point lead, but Toronto stayed close until the waning minutes. Up five with three minutes to play, Hart connected on an open trey, then after a stop finished inside to break open a double-digit lead and seal the game.