You have to believe that Madison Square Garden has a magic power to transcend the big names in this league. Yet another illustration tonight with Pascal Siakam who offers himself a career record in the lair of the Knicks, in a much needed victory for his Raptors.
After a hotly contested first quarter between the two teams (27-28), the strong winger of the 2019 champions put Toronto on his shoulders by scoring 10 points in a row, widening the gap almost on his own (32 -41). Faced with a player of such a level in this quarter, the New Yorkers sought to limit the breakage at the break (53-63).
It took Immanuel Quickley to continue his festival in the corners for New York to come back in front after going to the locker room (66-65). The duel between Siakam and his direct opponent Julius Randle continued in a balanced third quarter, but still finished with three possessions in advance for the visitors (80-87).
With a few rare contributions from his bench, including a “floater” from Derrick Rose, who took advantage of the absence of Quentin Grimes to grab minutes, New York hung on. But the passage in zone of their opponents will hinder them a lot (87-96). Randle and his friend RJ Barrett then made their physique speak to score near the circle and restore the advantage to the Knicks three minutes from the end (102-101).
In very bad shape offensively in the period (5/20…), the Canadians found the release thanks to a few stops and a decisive 3-point basket from Fred VanVleet in transition, one minute thirty from the end.
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER
– The absolute cleanliness of the Raptors. The Canadians were already the team that lost the fewest balls on average in the league with about 13 units. Their average will go down again with this match finished with only… four “turnovers”. This is obviously a season record for the troop of Nick Nurse whose opponents lost four times more balls. Between this differential and their missed free throws, New Yorkers have something to feed some regrets.
– Tight rotations. Nick Nurse and Tom Thibodeau are rather renowned in the field. Tonight, each coach relied on an eight-man rotation, not hesitating to bump up the playing times of their star players. Thus, no less than four elements exceeded 40 minutes of play, including the palm RJ Barrett with… 46 minutes of play. On both sides, the benches brought almost nothing.
– End of series. Started in early December, the Knicks’ good series of eight straight victories allowed them to move from 11th place in the East to 6th. Reverse dynamic for the Raptors moved from 7th place to 10th with their series of six consecutive losses. These two series ended with this meeting.
TOPS/FLOPS
✅ Pascal Siakam. The MVP of the evening on this NBA night to which we will obviously come back. Author of his career best, he proved untenable near the circle, where he collected as many free throws as the entire opposing team. Passed very close to the triple-double to complete his capital performance, the Cameroonian essentially scored on the penalty line in the last quarter.
✅ Julius Randle and RJ Barrett. The two strong men from New York do not have much to reproach themselves for. Apart from a few missed throws from the first – not to mention this ball which slipped from his hands in the last minute when he had a lay-up within reach – and ball losses from the second, they were very clean in the game. The duo were on the front line to wake up the team in the last quarter.
⛔ Scottie Barnes. Two stats to sum up his evening: 1/10 on shots and -16 to the score when he was in play, the worst ratio of his team. The reigning rookie of the year confirms his statistical decline compared to his first year…
⛔ Jalen Brunson. Unlike Barnes, the former Mavs player has been more of a model of consistency since the start of the season. Tonight, he signed his worst performance with the New York jersey. Clumsiness (3/14), lost balloons (5, more… than the Raptors!), including two that were expensive in the last quarter. The leader, however, compensated with 12 assists.
THE FOLLOWING
New York (18-14) : reception of the Bulls, Friday.
Toronto (14-18) : trip to Cleveland, Friday.
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