When it came to earning a trip to Las Vegas, the third time was the charm for the New York Knicks.
A sterling showing from Jalen Brunson and more procured NBA Cup advancement for the Knicks, who tore the Toronto Raptors by a 117-101 final in the quarterfinal round on Tuesday night at Scotiabank Arena. New York, the only team to reach of the knockout round of all three NBA in-season tournaments, will get to partake in the Las Vegas-based semifinals for the first time.
Brunson’s latest triple-decade, earning 35 in his latest trip up north, proved historic: it was his 87th game in a Knick uniform with at least 30 points, tying Richie Guerin for the third-most in Knicks history behind only Patrick Ewing (203) and Carmelo Anthony (108).
Brunson shot 13-of-18 from the field in the Knicks’ fourth straight win while his past and present teammate Josh Hart was 8-of-11 en route to 21 points. The former Villanova Wildcats united to sink 10 of the Knicks’ 16 three-pointers on a night they shot over 52 percent from the field.
The Brunson burn scorched Toronto early, as he scored 20 points in the opening period alone. Shooting 7-of-9 over the first dozen helped the Knicks (17-7) keep pace in a frantic first, one they lost by four despite Brunson’s prowess in a period where they hit 65% of their tries from the field. Brandon Ingram had 17 Toronto tallies while Karl-Anthony Towns sat due to early foul trouble and the Knicks lost seven turnovers.
The jackpot, however, came in the second period, one that saw the Knicks render the Raptors’ hopes at in-season glory extinct. New York let up just 13 points in the second period (and just one field goal beyond the arms of Ingram and Jakob Poeltl) while posting a balanced scoring effort on offense, allowing eight different men to score in the frame.
The exclamation point came when a returning Towns (back in action after a one-game absence due to calf tightness) split two Raptors for an emphatic slam, almost a year to the day of his dagger triple in Ontario that created his first signature moment as a New Yorker.
That was early on in a 22-4 run for the Knicks, one that also featured a showstopping fastbreak dunk from ex-Raptor OG Anunoby and created an everlasting double-figured lead. Up 17 at half, the Knicks never let their lead dip below 14 in the final 24.
Toronto (15-11) continues to founder after a nine-game winning streak, dropping its fourth straight and sixth in the last seven. Led by 31 from Ingram, the Raptors played Tuesday’s game without ailing ex-Knicks RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley, who respectively sat out due to a knee injury and an illness.
The Knicks will face a familiar foe in the semifinal round, which will match them up against the Orlando Magic for the fourth time on Saturday late afternoon at T-Mobile Arena (5:30 p.m. ET, Prime Video). Orlando, which has taken two of the first three get-togethers, defeated Miami to open Tuesday’s quarterfinal action.
