Another American team wearing blue, the New York Knicks, in this case, came through in the clutch against Canada.
A fantastic finish allowed the Knicks to keep momentum rolling on a crucial stretch on the schedule, as they put up a 111-95 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday night. It gave the Knicks (40-22) their 40th win of the season, reaching that landmark for the fourth consecutive season (the longest team streak since 1992-98).
Karl-Anthony Towns and reigning Clutch Player of the Year Jalen Brunson oversaw a sterling closeout: after ex-Knick Immanuel Quickley shrank a 10-point second-half lead to two just after the fourth quarter’s midway mark, the current New Yorkers ended the game on a 16-2 run.
Brunson had six tallies in that final run, the final touches of a 26-point, 10-assist night. Equally brilliant bookends from Towns further secured the international export. He closed the game out with six rebounds in the final period, after reaching at least three points, boards, and assists in the opener alone.
Towns ended the game four helpers short of a triple-double, setting a sterling mark of 21 points and 13 boards. Early tone-setting from ex-Raptor OG Anunoby saw him score all but four of his 15 points in an opening frame that saw the Knicks turn a 10-point deficit into a permanent lead earned when Mikal Bridges sank a three in the final minute.
With Anunoby, Bridges, and Josh Hart complementing Brunson and Towns, all five Knicks starters reached double-figures for the third straight game.
Off the bench, the Knicks enjoyed 12 more points from Landry Shamet (all earned on four three-pointers) while Mitchell Robinson, granted entry in game one of a back-to-back, overcame an ankle injury in the first half to pull in 10 rebounds. Robinson appeared none the worse for wear, playing just under 10 minutes in the second half.
The Knicks also put up another strong defensive effort: by allowing only eight three-pointers (all but two coming from the arms of either Quickley or Brandon Ingram, though the former needed 10 tries to make it there) and gaining 17 points off 15 forced turnovers (essentially sealing the game when a Brunson steal of Scottie Barnes became a Hart fastbreak), the Knicks tied their season-long streak by allowing less than 100 points for the third straight game.
Recent visits from the Knicks have been extinction-level events in Ontario: Tuesday’s win was the Knicks’ 12th in a row against Toronto, dating back to the famed December 2023 trade involving Anunoby, Quickley, and RJ Barrett.
Toronto gets one more chance to stop the streak in the Knicks’ penultimate game of the regular season on April 10.
In the meantime, the Knicks will briefly return home for the latter half of a back-to-back set, one that will grant them their first crack at the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder (7 p.m. ET, MSG/ESPN).
