Quick Reaction: Knicks 121, Raptors 115

Walter got the starting nod over Ochai Agbaji replacing an injured RJ Barrett. Ja’Kobe has been quite passive but in the last two games he’s been more aggressive and tonight he started with two makes beyond the arc before checking out of the first quarter. It took Walter quite some time to check in for his second shift but he finally got back out there late in the second quarter. His momentum was completely halted as he didn’t provide much at all with his last five minutes of the half. Walter had an abysmal offensive possession as Scottie B fed him with a beautiful no-look pass that he hesitated to shoot on which led to a terrible pass turnover. He responded brilliantly though as he hustled back and stripped the Knicks ball handler to win the Raptors their possession back. It seems like Walter has been a much more effective starter over a second-unit player but he will most likely return to the bench once Toronto gets healthy again.

Scottie had a decent first quarter but it was nice to see him aggressive with his shot on a night where RJ Barrett was out. He had a few bad turnovers but that didn’t affect his confidence. We didn’t see a balanced outing from Barnes in the first half but he did a solid job with his shot-making. Scottie picked it up as a facilitator in the second half and his shot-making kind of took a noticeable dip and he had a horrible possession late in the game where he was arguing a foul call while handling the ball. Toronto needed much more out of Scottie tonight.

Poeltl was quite involved in the first quarter with five points but it was surprising to see him end the quarter with zero rebounds. In fact, Poeltl got his first rebound of the game during Toronto’s last offensive possession of the half. That tells you how dominant Karl Anthony Towns was on the boards as the Knicks big man ended the half with 15 rebounds of his own. Poeltl’s night was over at halftime as we didn’t see him come back out due to a right hip pointer injury. Hopefully, this wasn’t the last of Jakob as a Raptor due to the trade deadline being just two days away now.

Gradey started off the night aggressively early in the first quarter as all three of his buckets came because of shots at the rim (two points via free throw but he earned the foul at the rim.) Gradey only had one steal tonight but he did a good job getting into passing lanes and deflecting pass attempts. Dick made his first three-pointer of the game midway through the fourth quarter to cut down the Knicks lead down to 8 points which got the crowd going yet again. Gradey slowed down after a good start but he came alive late in the game when Toronto needed him the most. His defence seems to be getting much better too which is a great sign.

Decent first quarter, his playmaking was solid in the opening frame. A very passive half from Quickley though as he was able to get quite a lot of game time which only led to three shots. Quickley came out much more aggressive in the second half as he was able to surpass his points from the first half in just under four minutes of work in the second half. IQ barely got any more run after a solid start to the second half due to Jamal Shead coming alive and playing a heck of a ball game.

Brown had a solid first shift and the most notable play from his first quarter was his setup to Jakob Poeltl for an and-one finish. His second half wasn’t as good but overall he turned in a good performance in the first half. Bruce started off the second half with a nice finish at the tin but was called for a bogus offensive foul very quickly after that. That was it for Brown’s night as his minutes were also cut short due to many of the Raptors coming alive and outperforming the vet.

Shead and Brown got the first call from Darko to enter the game and Jamal provided instant impact on his first possession, making his first shot of the night. After that, he was very quiet in the first quarter and in the second quarter, he committed a horrible foul on Cameron Payne for three foul shots. In the following possession, he dribbled the ball out of bounds off his feet following the free throw shots. He responded with three makes at the rim, one that led to an and one, which he was able to convert. After a few possessions of head-scratching plays, Shead responded amazingly and it wasn’t his shot-making that was the most impressive part of his game (which was great,) it was his playmaking that came alive late tonight.

Surprising to not see Ochai in the starting five as he did a phenomenal job earlier in the season filling in for the injured Raptors. We all know he plays great defence but recently his rim protection has been unreal and tonight was no different as he swatted a dunk attempt by Miles McBride. Outside of that he didn’t do anything but miss two three balls in the first half. Agbaji was able to get on the board on the fast break late in the third quarter where Shead found him for a ferocious slam. That got his game going as he won an offensive rebound quickly after his slam and knocked down a triple in the ensuing possession. He was one of many Raptors who started slow but finished leaving everything on the floor tonight.

Instant impact in his first shift with a nice moving mid-range jumper that he created for himself. He also set up Scottie B early in the second quarter with a highlight reel alley-oop feed. Olynyk started the second half over Jakob Poeltl who was ruled out with a right hip injury. Olynyk made a great play on a driving Towns as he stripped him on his way up for a layup and he was called for a foul, but Toronto was out of challenges due to a bad attempt in the first half. Kelly O started the game decent but picked it up in the third quarter with some nice finishes at the rim. The best part of Kelly’s game tonight was his ability to slow down Towns as his second half was nowhere near his first-half performance and it seemed like the refs had it out for him tonight as some of the calls on him were baffling.

Mogbo re-entered the rotation tonight early in the second quarter. Although it was nice to see Mogbo out there, he didn’t provide much in the first half. Mogbo was able to finish a beautiful Shead full-court pass and he really got the crowd going again in a game that was beginning to slip away from Toronto. The rookie big played phenomenal defence in the fourth quarter and was able to get multiple stops for the Raptors. He played so well that he got significant closing minutes and may have played his way back into the rotation.

Robinson didn’t play in the first half but the Poeltl injury at the half opened up backup minutes for the former King on his second ten-day contract. He got very minimal minutes and notably shot a three-ball (which might’ve been his first three attempted as a Raptor.) We saw Robinson back out there early in the fourth quarter and this time he was able to contribute with a finish off of a nice Scottie Barnes feed.

Darko’s been really shaking up the rotations lately which is very confusing as Toronto has been winning so much. Davion Mitchell and Chris Boucher have been playing phenomenal ball lately but they were nowhere to be found today. He also lost his challenge in the first half on a bad attempt and there were countless bad calls in the second half where the challenge could’ve really come in handy. One of his few decisions that was good tonight was his call to go for Ja’Kobe Walter in the starting five over Ochai Agbaji. He also managed the rotations well late in the game as he kept the hot hands in the game and almost stole one off the Knicks tonight.