If the 2025-26 regular season were to end today, the New York Knicks would meet the division rival Toronto Raptors in the first round of the playoffs. It would be a fascinating encounter on multiple fronts, including the fact that it would be the first time in 25 years that the two sides would be meeting in the postseason.
Beyond the rivalry, however, is the fascinating fact that the Knicks and Raptors have built their respective rosters with fundamentally similar ideals minus one critical difference: Their primary scoring options.
New York and Toronto have both embraced the unorthodox nature of the modern game by building wing-heavy starting lineups. For the Knicks, OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges, and Josh Hart all rotate between the two wing positions and a less-than-traditional definition of a power forward.
The Raptors, meanwhile, have built their rotation around All-Star forwards Scottie Barnes and Brandon Ingram, with former Knicks shooting guard RJ Barrett operating at the 2.
Both sides then roll out an undersized lead guard, with Jalen Brunson starting for New York and another former Knicks guard, Immanuel Quickley, occupying said role in Toronto. Karl-Anthony Towns and Jakob Poeltl then tend to check in at the 5-spot.
Therein lies the fundamental difference between how the Knicks and Raptors function. Toronto scores through its wings, while New York emphasizes high-low balance.
The question is: Can the Knicks' polarizing formula thrive across multiple postseasons or is it not as sustainable as the Raptors' Celtics-coded strategy may ultimately prove to be?
Raptors would test if Knicks can sustainably win playing through a 1 and a 5
The Knicks and Raptors' leading scorers are Brunson and Ingram. Brunson is a 6'2" point guard who utilizes his skill and strength to put points on the board at all three levels, whereas Ingram is a 6'8" wing who's capable of doing the same with the benefit of height.
Both have proven in the past that they can step up in the playoffs, and each will be tasked with leading their team in the first round and beyond from a scoring perspective.
Toronto has a productive counter for Brunson in Quickley, much as Ingram will be met by Anunoby. The compelling difference between these two sides, however, isn't just that their primary scoring threats, who both crush teams from midrange, are so different in size and position.
It's that the next-leading scorer on the team continues the trend of divergence: A sharpshooting center in Towns for the Knicks and another wing in either Barrett or Barnes, who are a mere 0.3 points per game away from one another at 19.0 and 18.7, for the Raptors.
If the Knicks ultimately play the Raptors and manage to defeat them, it would be an undeniable confirmation of the validity of their strategy. It's somehow rare for teams to build around a high-scoring point guard and center despite the balance they provide, but perhaps there's a reason for that fact. If that's the case, then the aforementioned validity could be called into question by Toronto.
With a first-round battle seemingly on the way and the Knicks facing a structurally similar opponent, their polarizing strategy will be tested and a pivotal question will be posed: Do they need to find a high-volume wing or can their approach consistently work?