Brunson Dominates As Knicks Take Down Toronto
The good times keep rolling for the New York Knicks of late.
New York took down the Toronto Raptors North of the border, 119-106 for a third straight victory. The Knicks have now won seven of its last nine games.
Perhaps qualifying for the In-Season Tournament playoff has had a residual affect on this team?
A night after dropping 42 points in a 118-112 win over Detroit, Jalen Brunson was back at it for New York, leading the way with 22 points and eight assists on Friday night.
Julius Randle also remains red hot, posting a double-double with 20-points and 10 boards in the victory. In fact, it was the second time this year that New York has won both ends of a back-to-back. They last accomplished that feat November 17 and 18.
“We’re the kings of the back-to-backs,” Head Coach Tom Thibodeau joked.
While the Knicks stars were great on Friday night, it was the Knicks bench that was even better. New York outscored Toronto 52-25 in bench scoring, with Donte DiVencenzo leading the way with 21 points, and Josh Hart adding 17 more. In fact both DiVencenzo and Hart combined to shoot 67% from the floor (14-of-21).
The third quarter was the true deciding factor in this one with New York outscoring Toronto 33-20 in the period.
Brunson got things going with an 18-foot step-back jumper that gave New York a 59-57 lead out of the gate. A few minutes later, Brunson drilled a 24-foot three-pointer to put the Knicks up 66-59.
While Scottie Barnes proved to be a thorn in the Knicks’ side, by draining three’s for Toronto, New York always had an answer from Josh Hart. Hart’s two huge three-pointers, and a couple of buckets helped New York extend its lead to ten points, 85-75 with a minute to go in the third quarter.
NEXT UP:
The Knicks get a few days off before flying over to Milwaukee to face the Bucks in the quarterfinal round of the In-season tournament. A win, and New York faces the Indiana-Boston winner.
