After dominating the Warriors (sans Steph Curry) on Tuesday night, the Knicks could not find a way to win a back-to-back against the Raptors on Wednesday. In a close game throughout, the Knicks were never able to secure a lead as they fell 113-106 to the Toronto Raptors ending their league leading win streak of eight.
Raptors Stars Shine
Pascal Siakam was on another planet last night, putting up 26 points in each half for a total of 52. Siakam shot a total of 17-25 from the field while also being 16-18 from the free throw line. He chipped in nine rebounds, seven assists, and only had one turnover playing 41 of the 48 total minutes. It was an unbelievable performance from Siakam who has only furthered his incredibly impressive season with his play last night.
Fred VanVleet also showed up in a big way for the Raptors last night with 28 points on 10-24 shooting, 4-10 from three, and 4-4 from the free throw line. It may not have been as efficient of a shooting game for VanVleet as compared to Siakam, but he made some enormous plays down the stretch as he hit a 3 to extend the Raptors lead to 106-102 and then hit two free throws to push their lead to six.
one, two, THREE from Fred VV @FredVanVleet pic.twitter.com/qQWGzQjfWf
— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) December 22, 2022
It is important to note that Quentin Grimes was unable to play the second night of the back to back after sustaining an ankle injury against the Warriors. Immanuel Quickley stepped into the starting lineup, and although he had a stellar offensive game with 20 points on 7-10 from the field and 6-9 from three, he was unable to provide the same defense Grimes had given during the win streak. That perimeter defense was sorely missed down the stretch as VanVleet put the game away for the Raptors.
Knicks Big 2/3
Although Pascal Siakam stole the show, Julius Randle played a great game himself. Randle had a double-double, scoring 30 on 13-17 shooting from the floor with 13 rebounds. He could not find his stroke from the free throw line however, as he was only 4-9. Randle shined the brightest in the 4th quarter with 10 of his points coming in the final frame on the second night of a back to back.
RJ Barrett continued his recent hot streak as he also put up 30 points on 11-19 from the floor and an impressive 4-6 from the three point line. Barrett has steadily improved his three point shooting as of late, which has contributed in a big way to the Knicks recent success. Similarly to Randle, Barrett's performance held even greater impressiveness as he played a staggering 45 minutes on the second night of a back to back.
Jalen Brunson was unable to join Barrett and Randle in their impressive performances as he really struggled to find his shot against a tough Raptors defense. Brunson was a mere 3-14 from the field and did not make a single three-pointer. He was able to be a productive playmaker for his teammates as he did have 12 assists. However, he also led the team with five turnovers.
Turnovers were one of the biggest factors in deciding last night's game as the Raptors only turned it over four times as a team compared to the Knicks total of 16. The Raptors converted those turnovers into 21 points, with 12 of those contributing to Siakam's 52 points. As a result of this stark difference in turnovers, the Raptors shot attempted 94 shots compared to the Knicks 76. They both made the same amount of shots with 42, but with the Raptors making nine more free throws than the Knicks, it did not matter.
The Knicks will look to get back in the win column Friday night against the Chicago Bulls, which will be the third time the teams have played each other in the past six games.
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