Quick Reaction: Raptors 95, Knicks 112

Poeltl was pretty atrocious in this game. Offensively, he racked up two fouls in the second quarter and really needs Scottie to set him up. Defensively, he got hunted by Jose Alvarado and Ariel Hukporti made Poeltl look like a pylon as he blew by him from the perimeter. Poeltl was so bad tonight that his paint two and weakside defensive rebound in the first quarter stood out

He played with a no-quit attitude. He was pretty quiet in the first half, but brought intensity in the fourth quarter. He had a great and-one at the start of the fourth quarter and a really nice pass to Alijah Martin down low.

Scored at some pivotal moments, but also disappeared at times too. Hit two middys in the first quarter and used his scoring gravity to dump a pass off to Mogbo. He had a nice sweeping crossover that would make The Answer proud, and kicked it out to Shead in the corner. He made a middy and a fingeroll to inch within 10. Dunked the ball to make the game feel within reach in the third, but then Brunson answered back.

Had an efficient scoring night, hit some 3s and showed some flashes of aggression on the offensive end. He took the ball to the rack on a fast break, and had two nice takes to the basket in the second quarter. In the fourth, he hit a 3 after missing a turnaround jumper in the post. He nullified Mikal Bridges’ 3 with one of his own. But, he also passed up two 3s he should’ve taken. He passed out of a pump fake. He made an extra pass to Shead on the perimeter when he should’ve shot it. Mamu’s attempt to play point forward bit him in the ass many times – he turned the ball over trying to pass out of the paint with KAT guarding him, and telegraphed a pass from the wing. Mikal Bridges pounced on it and scored an easy transition lay-up. Defensively, he struggled against Brunson, but hey, who doesn’t?

Shead was up and down this game. Initially, he was throwing good passes out of PnRs. His pass to BI led to a Mogbo bucket, and a two-man action with Mogbo resulted in free throws. He hit a corner 3, which was a byproduct of BI attacking the paint. But Shead also made a bad decision when he had so much space in front of him to operate, and instead elected to pass the ball to Mogbo who got called for a charge. Also, there’s no excuse for an undersized guard airballing a wide open paint two.

Best Raptors player of the game. Night and day compared to last game now that he’s running high off his confidence. He was the only one to score six minutes into the game and then disappeared for a bit. But he made his presence known again in the second half when he drove and draw foul in the paint. Hit two more 3s in the second half. The only negative thing that stood out to me was getting blown by Brunson on one play.

Subbed in early for Shead. Had a solid defensive possession on Brunson, making him airball a 3.

Darko unleashed in the most important quarter. Yay, he hit a 3.

His decision-making still needs work, but nice job finishing and not passing out of the paint and going up strong with it.

Valuable reps at the Garden for the rookie. Has the physicality to hold his own in a competitive NBA game. Had a nice flair screen for Scottie in the second quarter.

Good job limiting Poeltl’s minutes. Raps grinded their way back from a poor start in the first quarter. I thought he could have taken advantage of OG’s absence in the second half, but the Raps couldn’t get closer than nine.