N.Y. Knicks: Toronto Plants Flag at MSG

From the desk: KICKIN' CANS DOWN 33RD STREET WIT' JIMMY

MONDAY

Raptors    113

KNICKS      94

FINAL

Toronto's Third Quarter is a Rap for Bockers

After Julius Randle's crowd-rising first quarter, the Knicks took a 57-53 lead into halftime.  But Toronto stormed ahead in the third with 38 points for a 101-79 advantage the Knicks could not recover.

Toronto's OG Anunoby scored 36 points in 41 minutes, and Gary Trent Jr. added 26 points in 43 minutes.  Both joined together for 62 (60%) of Toronto's 103 points.  Said another way, for roughly 90% of the game, the Knicks had no answer for either player.

RJ Barrett again led the Knicks with 27 points in 39 minutes, and Julius Randle added 22 points in 37 minutes for a combined 49 points.  Which is to say, they got outscored by Anunboy and Trent Jr. by 13 points.  Not coincidentally, 18 of Randle's 22 points came in the first quarter, leaving just four the rest of the way.  The Knicks lost by nine ...

• That's how you follow up a career game.  RJ Barrett has now eclipsed 20+ points in three consecutive games (28 ppg).

Knick starters were outscored 96-82 by Toronto's starting five.  Fresh off 19-points games at New Orleans, respectively, Kemba Walker topped out at 15 points in 28 minutes, and Evan Fournier added twelve points in 25 minutes. 

Toronto owned the edge in rebounding and did a slightly better job in ball distribution, but the Bockers bench outscored that of the Raptors by a 22-17 margin.

Off the bench, Derrick Rose was only 2/8 from the field, and Immanuel Quickley was just 1/7 from the field but 4/4 from the line for seven points.