Knicks 113, Raptors 108: Change = growth
Karl-Anthony Towns & RJ Barrett showed they’re not the players they used to be in New York’s win over Toronto
Look no further for the benefits to changing your surroundings than RJ Barrett and Karl-Anthony Towns’ respective performances Monday night. In a 113-108 New York Knicks’ win over the Toronto Raptors, both players embodied the growth they’ve undergone since switching teams for the first time in their careers.
Barrett did all he could to show the Knicks what they’re missing, scoring 30 points at an almost unstoppable clip. He added eight rebounds, four assists and a steal, too, as his game continues expanding to all areas of the floor. Towns, when needed most, was center stage, eager to deliver. After missing New York’s last game, his return brought a sense of stability down the stretch. Towns put up 24 points, 15 rebounds, six assists, two steals and two blocks, and his three-pointer with 6.3 seconds left sealed a game that may have not started out as a must-win but certainly felt that way in the aftermath.
As humans, we’re prone to sticking with what we know. The routines of our everyday lives are staples to our sanity. Being removed from a situation we’ve grown comfortable in forces us to a fork in the road. How eagerly we proceed rarely alters the ultimate outcome, as change is many things but rarely something we have a say in. But that first decision, how we act or react, does determine whether that change will be a difficult road to trudge or an easy path.
When not viewed through the prism of injury, perseverance is taken for granted in sports. We expect the players suiting up and making far more money than we’ll see in our lifetimes to welcome such challenges, as if it’s a perk to uproot oneself and one’s life. But in doing so, we forget that they’re people, too. Barrett and Towns were both displaced over the last year, one out of New York, the other – thankfully – into it. Lives they’d known and grown comfortable in were stripped away in moments, amid decisions they only came to understand after the fact. But in their new homes, they’re thriving, having severed ties with the worst parts of their past.
Thus is one of the many beauties of professional sports. What or who a player is in one place with one team does not have to be what or who they are forever. Narratives are written almost exclusively to be edited, rewritten, and in some cases flat-out forgotten. Barrett and Towns turned the page; neither look the part of the player who was basically forced to. Things may change. They rearrange. But through that, no one’s saying you have to stay the same. Embrace the opportunity. You never know when a revenge game against your former team could come calling on the schedule, or if your team is going to need you for a proverbial game-winning basket in crunch time.
Notes
No one is going to say it enough, or at least no one’s said it enough yet: what Jalen Brunson is doing this season is nothing shy of incredible. Don’t forget how last season ended. With injuries to both OG Anunoby and Julius Randle, Brunson had to put his hand so deep in the cookie jar it became a part of him. This year he’s the one putting cookies in the jar, and everyone’s eating. Through 24 games, he’s logged seven nights with double-digit assists. He finished last year with nine total. These kinds of passes just weren’t a thing last year for him.
Brunson’s assists per game are up from 6.7 to 7.8 and he’s scoring the ball more efficiently. All of his shooting percentages from the field are up. His commitment to this team transcends a few million dollars on his discount extension. He talks the talk, walks the walk, and plays the game the right way, with an emphasis on winning basketball.
Barrett isn’t just averaging his most points ever; his assist and rebounds are career-highs, too. Add in a 35% three-point shot on 5.9 attempts and there’s little to dislike about his game – at least, nothing that will be fixed playing on a 7-18 team. Barrett won’t lead Toronto to the playffs. But that’s never been the expectation. What he’s doing this season should have Raptors fans excited about what the team can look like around the guy, once they get one.
Credit to Tom Thibodeau is in order – or maybe it was Towns’ three fouls going into halftime. But on a night where he played 35 minutes, including all 12 in the fourth, Towns tallied 10 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, a steal and a block in the final frame and was +8, tying Mikal Bridges for best among all Knicks.
I miss Immanuel Quickley. Toronto does, too. Bruce Brown seems to have found his niche courtside getting mocked by Bridges and other colleagues. though. He can stay seated right where he’s at for all I care.
New York is 28-of-46 (61%) from the free throw line over the last two games, finishing that pair with a negative four-point differential. Nine times out of 10 that doesn’t equate to a 1-1 record. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I hope Thibs ups the ante in practice this week.
Precious Achiuwa made his lone free throw tonight. And he was also a catalyst for the Knicks’ rally after they fell into a hole early in the first quarter. Achiuwa finished his return to Toronto with 7 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 blocks in 16 minutes. A team that was playing Jericho Sims more than 12 minutes a night is breathing fresh air now. Having a backup for Towns that can move his feet helps. Go figure.
Bridges didn’t make a trip to the charity stripe. And while that’s a concerning trend – he’s attempted just 21 free throws this season – his string of play the past five games recently makes it somewhat tolerable: 22.4 points on 56% shooting from the field and 45% from three for a +109 rating. His shooting isn’t a luxury, by any means, but I think his off-ball movement (on both ends) is where he’ll butter the most bread this year.
0-7 in Toronto previously, Monday was the first win of KAT’s career in Canada. Fun stuff.
New York is 35-12 when Anunoby plays in the regular season, a 61-win pace. He’s as legitimate as a notarized mortgage. Undeniable as gravitational pull. Anunoby’s revenge game wasn’t the flashy offensive outburst we’ve come to know this season, but his defense was trademark. He finished with 14 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks, his third-straight game with multiple steals and blocks. When he and Brunson are on the floor, the Knicks have the best of both worlds, masters of defense and offense. And there isn’t a game I don’t think they can win.
This game wasn’t Barrett vs. Towns. At its core, it was the Knicks against themselves. And wins against yourself weigh two-fold against any loss to an external opponent. New York will be better for this game because, as Thibodeau so often puts it, the most important thing is finding ways to win. Not many of the Knicks victories this season were uninspiring; a few blowouts aside, most are seeded in some kind of triumph. That’s grounds for hope, and a foundation that justifies championship aspirations.