Neither head coach in tonight’s Raptors vs Knicks match-up pays much attention to the NBA standings. Darko Rajakovic made a pact with himself to avoid them until the All-Star break. Mike Brown, coach of the Knicks, also commented that he doesn’t pay much attention to his team’s place in the rankings. It’s more about focusing on each game, one at a time.
Tonight’s game, though, had many standings implications. The Raptors and Knicks are pretty close to eachother in the top-four spots in the Eastern
Conference. A win from either team would have been a great advantage in that battle.
On the Raptors’ side, they came into this game on a four-game streak, having won their last four West Coast road trip games. Though they haven’t beaten the Knicks in several years, New York came into this game on the second night of a back-to-back, missing a few players.
Should be a recipe for success?? It was, until the third quarter — when everything fell apart.
Toronto had a 10-point lead going into the second quarter and a 4-point lead at halftime. By the end of the third, the Raptors were down 12 points, and it was a 20-point game in the fourth.
The Raptors stopped taking care of the ball, leading to reckless turnovers. They were pretty cold when it came to shooting all night, but while the Knicks recovered from a cold start, the Raptors got colder. Toronto only shot 38% from the field on the night, and 27% from three-point range. It was, for lack of a better word, a gross display of basketball.
Maybe they should trade for Giannis. I mean, if this is the effort you’re going to give, why not blow it up?
What is it about the Knicks that the Raptors just can’t figure out? It’s been years of this, and it feels like this New York team just has the Raptors number every single time.
That’s the kind of game you need to just forget and move on from, and the Raptors will do that as they head back out of cold Toronto and into the Orlando heat this Friday for a quick road trip.
