Raptors 128, Knicks 112: Scenes from one of the biggest mismatches in basketball

New York drops to 4-9 on the year. They played tough but ultimately were unable to overpower Toronto. The Raptors struggled early turning over the ball and Knicks did what they could to hang in. In the first quarter the Raptors basically did not run pick and rolls as Frank Ntilikina and Mitchell Robinson proved a troublesome pair.

Eventually Enes Kanter and Emmanuel Mudiay got in the game and well...

and uh...

New York, to their credit stuck with it for the rest of the first half. It was the third quarter where the Raptors just kinda blew the doors of the hinges.

It wasn’t all rough stuff, I promise! Started off with a little shake and bake.

Allonzo Trier never really got it going tonight. Maybe he has never met this type of burly boy resistance.

Jonas Valanciunas kinda wasn’t having it with these Knicks. He cracked Trier, scoffed at Enes Kanter’s defense, laughed in Mitchell Robinson’s face (while getting his shot repeatedly tossed) and made sure everyone knew he was denying Noah Vonleh after this whistle.

Tim Hardaway Jr. paced the Knicks on offense once again. He also trotted the globe when he got to Toronto.

Perhaps you would like another angle?

Frank played hard, and the Toronto announcers were impressed with how well he understands the game at the underripe age of 20. Unfortunately this type of reacting without hesitation doesn’t happen consistently enough.

Damyean Dotson really did about as good as you can do against Kawhi Leonard on both sides of the ball. Here just letting one go!

The combination of Ntilikina and Dotson is so good when they put it together.

Kevin Knox keeps letting it fly. Apparently he is dangerously close to having more shots than passes this year. I wouldn’t be upset if Knox and Ntilikina blended their approaches to the game. Nice to see Knox come in and have some real impact. Even trying to finish with the left hand in one sequence.

Yes, finishing once with the left hand is a concern. Finishing with the right hand and turning defense into offense; not as much.

Well, look. That was a good romp for Toronto. When they decided to, they stepped on those New York necks. Check in with our friends at Knicks Fan TV. Full recap from the Professor later on.

One last thought...