Raptors 123, Knicks 121 (OT): Scenes from a playoff loss in the regular season

You won’t see many more beautiful games than the New York Knicks 123-121 overtime loss to the Toronto Raptors. If intensity tastes savory, this game was a blooming onion of blood, sweat and tears. Literally: Julius Randle caught a nose bleed in the first half, the players and referees sweated and I know I wasn’t alone in crying metaphorically. Intensity tastes like appetite: the Knicks have been winning and with each win our lust for more grows. Should that lust grow up to be 6-foot-8, odds are it will end up playing for the Raptors, the Canadian team that’s taken Canadian Marshall McLuhan’s “the medium is the message” literally with their medium-sized roster. Tonight, medium was plenty.

The Knicks led the whole second half until this one bit near the end when they didn’t. Missed free throws from Randle and Jalen Brunson cost the Knicks dearly in regulation, though without those misses we wouldn’t have gotten a new contender for RJ Barrett’s career higlight, one that tied the game in the final second. There is beauty in life sprung free just barely from death’s clutches.

So the game to overtime and yada yada yada, Brunson had a chance to tie it or win it at the buzzer and missed a good look from deep. The Knicks lost a game that hurt more than usual because of how badly both teams fought for it. Like, the Raptors are generally pretty inoffensive among NBA teams, yet by the end of the game they all seemed like dicks, especially Scottie Barnes, who’s probably my favorite Raptor. There’s some blooming onion for you. Recap to follow.