Raptors 100, Knicks 83: “The silver lining is more of a rusty bronze”

The Knicks ended 2020 in the most fitting way possible, stinking it up against the Raptors in Toronto. On to 2021! Collin Loring recaps the game that ended the worst year.

The New York Knicks’ sole New Years’ resolution should be to never play as badly as they did in their loss to the (Tampa?) Toronto Raptors. Collectively, the team finished Thursday night having made just 32-of-88 shots from the field and only 3-of-36 attempts from behind the arc. The result? New York scored just 83 points, and left much to be desired along the way. 

Nothing about the first quarter resembled professional basketball for either team. Toronto took a 22-18 lead after 12 minutes of play, but only 15 of those points had been tallied by the halfway point of the first quarter. If you’ve ever heard the term “brick city,” understand that it was retroactively inspired by the first period of this basketball game. In other words, if you had taken a drink anytime the words “slow start” were uttered by Mike Breen and Clyde Frazier, it’s increasingly likely that you’ve yet to wake up from your drunken slumber. 

The Raptors were winless walking into Thursday’s game, and that much was apparent by their inability to capitalize on the absolutely horrid play by the Knicks early on. And as much as they can be faulted for that, so can New York, who seemed to have completely regressed against Toronto after an inspiring win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday night. 

New York and Toronto walked into halftime with 42 points apiece, with only Julius Randle and Kevin Knox having posted double-digit points for the Knicks. One of the stories of the first half, if not the entire game, was Austin Rivers play as the backup point guard. In his debut as a Knickerbocker, the 8-year veteran finished with seven points, five assists, and a steal. For all of the fans that said he couldn’t man the position of floor general, what’s your excuse? Rivers was dynamic as a playmaker, a much-needed boost for New York, who were without all of Dennis Smith Jr, Frank Ntilikina, and Immanuel Quickley against the Raptors. 

Walking into the third quarter, there were hopes (among all of us) that both teams could only improve upon what was a dreadful half of basketball. There were improvements for Toronto, but New York never made the proper adjustments. They stayed in the game until about halfway through the fourth quarter, but it was never truly a close game in any sense of the word. 

If there is a bright side, it’s not one you’d paint a picture of. The silver lining for the Knicks here is more of a rusty bronze. It’s easy to overlook, but it’s arguable that New York was without two of their top shot makers. In addition to the lack of point guard depth, they didn’t have Alec Burks or Obi Toppin, two guys who make their pay on the offensive side of the ball. But all the Knicks were without on Thursday night was the ability to make shots, and the chances of them shooting this poorly on a nightly basis are equivalent to my having already won the lottery within the number of unscratched lottery tickets collecting dust along my bedroom dresser. 

You wouldn’t know it from just box score watching, but Kevin Knox actually had a nice game against the Raptors. He shot poorly, 5-of-14 from the field, but he was also one of two Knicks to make a 3-pointer. Knox was also a semi-regular at the foul line, and finished with 16 points on the night. There were some defensive lapses, but also flashes of what his length and athleticism suggest he can ultimately become as a defender. Knox was the first substitution for New York, indicating a certain trust from Tom Thibodeau. That’s something to watch moving forward. 

Randle also had a decent game, ultimately finishing with 16 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists. More importantly, he tallied just three turnovers on the night, after a triple-double that finished one turnover short of an uncanny and unappealing quadruple double. It appears that everything we’ve seen thus far this season may indeed be legit. That’s not to say that new head coach Tom Thibodeau is a Julius Randle whisperer by any means, but rather that he’s a competent enough mind to see the ways New York’s veteran can positively impact the game. 

Among the negatives from Thursday’s game, and there are plenty, was another poor shooting performance from RJ Barrett. He’s now made just eight of his last 34 shot attempts, and just three of his 24 total attempts from behind the arc through five games this season. As the year wanes on, and Thibs faces decisions within the lineup and how to manage minutes distribution, this is a number to keep an eye on. His average defensive effort aside, Barrett is going to have to hit shots if he wants to stay on the floor under this version of the Knicks. 

I haven’t stressed too much over the Raptors side of things because there is in fact little to discuss. A team that was already leaning over the edge managed to take a half step back, thanks to a (hopefully) rare and inconsistent shooting night from New York. Fred VanVleet finished with 25 points, but on an uneven 9-of-19 made shots from the field. Without their best player, Toronto was able to play D-grade basketball and walk out with a win on Thursday night, entering 2021 with a win, as opposed to an 0-4 record and questions to answer. 

But the New York Knicks, well they’ll have some trust to earn back on Saturday night when they take on the Indiana Pacers. With Immanuel Quickley and Alec Burks potentially on the way, hopefully they can turn things around and get moving back in the right direction.