Raptors 110, Knicks 97: Scenes from a game my cat warned me not to get too invested in

I apologize if this thread comes a bit late. I was settling down to type it up, already secure in the fact that the Knicks had blown this game, when my boy George Kitten jumped onto my keyboard. I kept taking him off and he kept jumping back on — very unusual behavior for George. Finally, he turned to me and spoke in clearly understandable Catese: “Why the hell you even bothering with this crap?”

Look, George, I get it. But sometimes the job just has to be done.

I must say, this was one of the most disappointing second half performances I’ve seen in a while. Not because the Raptors, who were down a fairly significant amount in the third quarter, turned around and throttled the Knicks so completely that they built a 20-point lead in a matter of minutes. No, the disappointing thing was that Willy Hernangomez, who scored 20 first-half points and had dominated Toronto, finished the game with only 24. I was rooting so damn hard for you to reach 30!

Alas, Knicks fans will settle for 24 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals.

Ron Baker came shockingly close to a triple-double, dropping 11 points, 8 assists and 8 rebounds on the Raptors.

Still the Raptors had at least two higher gears that the Knicks do not possess. We’ll get ‘em next year, Willy, Ron and company!

Recap to come.