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‘Twas the game before Christmas, when all through MSG not a Raptor was stirring, not even Scottie. OK, in fairness, Scottie Barnes actually was quite improved from a night earlier, but other than a fast start, the Raptors couldn’t compete with the New York Knicks on Monday night at Madison Square Garden and lost for the eighth game in a row, this time 139-125.
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OG Anunoby had a spectacular game against his old team, hitting his first 11 shots on the way to 31 points, his second-most as a Knick and five off his Raptors high. Karl-Anthony Towns scored at will too, equalling Anunoby’s 31 and negating a tough night for superstar Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson. Barnes and RJ Barrett led the Raptors with 24, and 23, respectively, along with rookie Ja’Kobe Walter’s 16.
Toronto led by two points a couple of times, but never by more. After taking that advantage early in the second quarter following an even first, the Raptors surrendered a monster Knicks run, with New York going red hot from three-point range, shooting 10-for-20 in the second. Toronto only got up 10 threes in the frame and made only three of them as a season-long issue of being pummelled in three-point differential continued.
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By the time the half mercifully closed, Toronto was down 70-52.
Barnes had 14 through two, Barrett 11, Walter, coming off a career-best game, had six, but Gradey Dick missed all six of his shots in the first half. Anunoby made all six at the other end of the floor, while Towns had 16. Brunson started 0-for-6 from the field and 3-for-6 from the free throw line.
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It didn’t get any better for the Raptors in the third, with Anunoby scoring in ways he rarely did during his long run in Toronto. New York went up by as many as 31 points and was ahead by 29 after three.
Barrett, who had been the highest Knicks draft pick since Patrick Ewing when he went third overall in 2019, played only his second career game as a visitor at Madison Square Garden (he scored 20 points in the other one). There was no guarantee Barrett would be able to suit up, as he’d been a last-minute scratch a night earlier when the Raptors hosted Houston. But he was cleared. The news wasn’t as good on rookie point guard Jamal Shead, who was coming off his best performance and first double-double. Shead was ruled out due to a right knee contusion. The team was also once again without starting point guard Immanuel Quickley, top centre Jakob Poeltl and Bruce Brown.
Maybe if they’d all played, and perhaps if Barnes didn’t once again look like he was nowhere close to 100% Toronto would have made it more competitive. But against a team with the NBA’s second-best offence and fifth-best net rating (points scored vs. Points allowed per 100 possessions), maybe it wouldn’t have.
The Raptors fell to 7-23. Toronto’s next shot at a road win comes Boxing Day at Memphis.
@WolstatSun
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