After winning an incredible eight games in a row, the Knicks finally caved and lost to the Toronto Raptors, 113-106, on Wednesday night. Most notably, Raptors forward Pascal Siakam dropped a career-high 52 points and was impossible to guard.
The Knicks have been playing such a high level of defense over the last couple of weeks, so it seemed like it was only a matter of time before an opponent exploded. Siakam tore apart New York’s defense with elite scoring and passing.
Even outside of Siakam’s masterclass, the Knicks were unable to keep up with the Raptors in general, which led to a rather disappointing loss.
Knicks blow it against the Raptors as win streak ends at eight
While most of the Knicks stars shined in this game, the team as a whole really fell apart at the end, scoring just four points in the final two minutes. Julius Randle, RJ Barrett, and Immanuel Quickley played tremendously, but on the other hand, Jalen Brunson had arguably his worst game of the season.
Brunson had just seven points, 12 assists, and three rebounds, shooting 3-of-14 from the field and 0-of-3 from behind the arc while also turning the ball over five times. This was just a bad game in general from Brunson. While he had some positive plays, the Knicks needed his shots to fall.
The duo of Randle and Barrett played extremely well for most of the game, with both players dropping 30-pieces, however, they both were rather disappointing down the stretch. Barrett did have a massive dunk to take the lead with 3:21 left, but that was it for him for the remainder of the game.
Barrett has played at a rather high level since his cold streak earlier this season which has been nice to see. This team needs him and he has not let them down in recent games. If he can keep this up, Barrett could finally silence those who doubt his contract extension.
In my opinion, this game showed the importance of Quentin Grimes, who was out with an ankle sprain. Don’t get me wrong, Quickley played great in his absence, however, the bench unit missed him dearly and you could tell it wasn’t the same.
The bench scored a combined nine points on 4-of-12 shooting from the field with not a single player having a positive +/-. The bench hasn’t been spectacular this season, even with the team’s hot streak, however, they have not been as bad as they were tonight.
Hopefully, Grimes won’t miss extended time and Quickley can go back to leading the second unit like he has done all season.
Overall, this was a game the Knicks should have won, but a couple of rough performances combined with poor play down the stretch cost the team big time. Entering the Knicks’ next matchup against the Bulls, players like Brunson and the bench must perform better.
The Knicks have owned the Bulls so far this season, but things can change at any second. The team must remain as consistent as they have been in the last eight games if they want to keep up the success.
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