Knicks put up another 40-point quarter in 18-point rout of Raptors
Forty-point quarters are supposed to leave a team feeling invincible. These are the kind of offensive avalanches that make opponents buckle under the weight of inevitability, the kind of runs that tell everyone: There’s nothing you can do to stop us.
The Knicks entered Sunday leading the NBA with eight such outbursts. They scored nine points after scoring a 41-point first half against the Toronto Raptors — the same Raptors they will face in the NBA Cup quarterfinals on Dec. 9 — and briefly appeared headed for another blowout victory at Madison Square Garden.
That’s quite an accomplishment in a points-hungry NBA. The Knicks now have three more 40-point quarters than the Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs, Houston Rockets, Memphis Grizzlies and Miami Heat, who are all tied at six. They even have a game with consecutive 40-point quarters, as they hung 83 points in the second half of a victory against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Timberwolves and Philadelphia 76ers each have five 40-point quarters. The Knicks have doubled each of the league’s remaining 22 teams in the department.
Yet a familiar problem resurfaced on Sunday. Sure, the Knicks scored 41 points in the first half, but they only generated 18 points in the second quarter. The Knicks have expired. Their defense slackened. Their urgency has diminished. And when Scottie Barnes hit three straight threes in the same spot at the top of the key, Mike Brown had enough. He called a timeout, and within a few possessions, what looked like a laugh turned into a seven-point game at halftime.
New York ultimately won 116-94, improving to 13-3 on the season and 10-1 at home. They pulled away late to regain a 20-point advantage midway through the fourth quarter. But the pattern is becoming impossible to ignore: The Knicks can create leads. Protecting them is another matter.
“Just discipline. We got a little lazy at certain points in the game,” Josh Hart said in his closing interview. “They’re a good team, they made some runs and we were able to weather the storm.”
A 40-point first quarter against Brooklyn on Nov. 9 gave way to a 40-point second quarter given to the Nets without Cam Thomas. Against Memphis, a 42-point first game turned into a 39-point third quarter by the Grizzlies. Miami saw the Knicks give up 46 points in the second quarter – and immediately give up 36 in the third of what became an eight-point escape.
Sunday followed a similar pattern: a blistering start, then a brutal dropoff. The Knicks didn’t give up 40 this time, but they took their foot off the gas — just enough of a lull to invite the Raptors back into the game.
“[They’re] extremely athletic. They’re big and have big wings, and they can shoot the ball really well,” head coach Mike Brown said before the tipoff. “They really come out in transition and punish you in transition. Lots of guys who can run well. They can score at all three levels, and then defensively, they’re aggressive, they create turnovers that create points for them in other ways.
Fortunately for the Knicks, their first 40 ball provided just enough cushion to absorb the turbulence that followed. Miles McBride came out flamethrowing, drilling four of his first five threes and single-handedly outscoring the Raptors, 12-10, to start the game. Toronto cut the lead to just three midway through the third quarter – 7:08 on the clock, tension thick in the building – before New York found its rhythm and responded with another avalanche, this time a 34-point third period.
Karl-Anthony Towns led the way with 22 points on 8-of-15 shooting, and Josh Hart added one of his most complete games of the season: 20 points (4-of-7 from deep), 12 rebounds and seven assists. Jalen Brunson had 18 points, seven assists and six rebounds on what was a relatively light workload. All five Knicks starters scored in double figures once again, and Mitchell Robinson anchored the second unit with 15 rebounds – seven on the offensive glass – in just 17 minutes.
Immanuel Quickley delivered 19 points and seven assists in his return to The Garden, and Scottie Barnes added 18 points on 7-of-17 shooting.
The Knicks and Raptors will meet again in nine days, but the stakes will be much higher next time: a winner-take-all NBA Cup quarterfinal at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena with a trip to Las Vegas on the line.
Maybe that’s just the nature of basketball: a running game, where even big leads evaporate and momentum swings on a few successful threes. Perhaps streak abandonments are just part of the natural ebb and flow of a team that scores at such a high rate.
Or maybe it’s something worth keeping an eye on. Because this version of the Knicks can easily create leads, but learning to extend them — not sit on them — will determine how high their ceiling really is. They’ve been lucky so far, going 7-1 in games where they posted a 40-point quarter.
But fortune doesn’t last forever.
