Raptors vs. Knicks, Dec. 9 Takeaways: Barnes injury overshadows another competitive loss
It was revenge game mode en masse as Barrett, Anunoby, Achiuwa all played well
Toronto lost its third straight game, 113-108 to New York, dropping to 7-18 on the season.
Karl-Anthony Towns was spectacular with 24 points, 15 rebounds, six assists, two steals, two blocks, and a dagger 3-pointer to silence the home fans.
R.J. Barrett was more than ready for his former team, finishing with 30 points and almost doing enough to take the Raptors home late despite the absence of Scottie Barnes, who was lost to injury (more below).
The Raptors finish a five-game homestand 2-3, dropping to 6-7 at home. The next game is against the Heat in Miami on Thursday night.
Here are takeaways from the game:
Barnes injury puts damper on great game
Barnes sprained his right ankle in the third quarter and did not return. He looked to be in a lot of pain and did not put any weight on his right foot as he made his way to the locker room. Darko Rajakovic confirmed after the game that X-Rays were negative.
If there is a silver lining, it’s that this is NBA Cup week and with the Raptors having been eliminated, the team plays just two games over the next nine days.
I don’t want to speculate so let’s just wait and see what the official diagnosis is. If Barnes is to miss some time, it’d be a real pity considering it just looked like the Raptors were looking decently healthy with only Immanuel Quickley and Bruce Brown missing.
Barnes finished the night with 15 points, five rebounds, and three assists, looking particularly good in the third quarter with back-to-back threes before the injury.
Revenge game, for three
R.J. Barrett must’ve got that Osmow’s pre-game because he came out like a man on a mission. The Mississauga man put up 17 points in the first half on 7-of-9 shooting, largely by being a Tasmanian Devil in transition. Barrett finished 6-of-15 in the second half, understandable after the departure of Barnes. In the final minute, Barrett was able to go coast-to-coast against four Knicks defenders and finish at the rim to tie the game. 10 of Barrett’s 30 points came in transition or semi transition.
The revenge game had a happy ending for Anunoby, finishing with a crucial block on Barrett and then assisting Karl-Anthony Towns for a dagger 3-pointer that put the Knicks up five with just over six seconds left. Anunoby scored 10 of his 14 points in the first half and played stellar defence throughout. Beyond the block on Barrett, he had back-to-back blocks on 3-point attempts by Barnes and Ja’Kobe Walter in the first half.
Lastly, Precious Achiuwa checked into the game with an instant LeBron James Game 6 in Boston face and was impactful in his minutes. He finished with seven points, six rebounds, and two blocks in 16 minutes.
Walter coming on strong
Good things come to those who wait. Ja’Kobe Walter was forced to miss training camp, pre-season, and the start of the regular season due to a shoulder injury. These are essential building blocks for a rookie season, but he had to make do.
Walter is so very clearly someone with a great feel for the game. He bided his time, learned from the sidelines, made his debut and got injured again, learned some more.
Now, he’s making his time count. Some spot starts for the once injured Gradey Dick seemed to make up for some of the lost time, and — like Jonathan Mogbo — is stringing together game after game with positive impact. Walter tied his career-high in the first half alone with 14 points, most encouragingly knocking down a pair of corner triples.
Walter upped that career-high to 19 by the end of the game (6-of-12 shooting), hitting a massive 3-pointer while getting fouled to give the Raptors a one-point lead with just under eight minutes remaining. Once again, his defence held up really well. His nose for the ball is absolutely terrific and any time an opponent is even slightly loose with the ball, he finds a way to poke it away.
It’s funny to think that Walter hit these big threes, put up some quality defensive stands, and my favourite play may have been a weak side screen to open up a cutting lane for a Dick layup as the shot clock was winding down.
Dick’s nightmare night
Gradey Dick struggled on both ends in this one, scoring six points on 3-of-11 shooting while looking about as lost as he has all season on the defensive end.
He finished both 1-for-5 in the paint and 1-for-5 from 3-point range. Strangely, he had one 3-point attempt that might have been the first time all season where his footwork looked off.
On the defensive end, especially when watching him defend Mikal Bridges, there were several examples of him just lacking the intensity to keep an eye on his man and stick with him. You’ll see in the clips below that he was caught flat footed multiple times.
Notes
Ochai Agbaji had a solid triple-single performance with seven points, five rebounds, and four assists. Jalen Brunson was kept quiet for much of the night, and that was a credit to the way Agbaji defended him all night. You’ll look at the box score and see Brunson shot 7-of-13 from the field, but it’s more about limiting him to 13 attempts with a good old prevention being better than cure approach.
Late in the second quarter, Karl-Anthony Towns hit Jakob in the precious Poeltls while attempting to finish at the rim. Towns shot two free-throws but was assessed a Flagrant 1. Poeltl made both free-throws.
The season Towns is having is pretty incredible. He’s averaging 25.2 points, 13.2 rebounds, and 3.0 assists while shooting 53.1% from the field and 45% from three. I still think the Knicks have lost a bit of their defensive identity because he has to play the 5 and Isaiah Hartenstein’s departure, but the offence is going to be very difficult for any opponent to contain.
Rasheed Wallace must have been in the building as there were a couple of “Ball Don’t Lie” moments. The first happened at the end of the first half on a questionable foul call against Davion Mitchell while defending Brunson where he went on to miss both free throws. Then, early in the fourth quarter, Towns got a favourable call attacking Kelly Olynyk but also ended up missing both free-throws. Two very good free-throw shooters going a combined 0-for-4 at the line on those possessions? Ball don’t lie.