Knicks vs. Raptors: How & Who to Watch With Longest Winning Streak on the Line
The New York Knicks have some small brands of personal history to attain on Wednesday night. Fortunately, a team of literal historic proportions is coming in to celebrate the occasion.
There's no rest for the Knicks' eight-game winning streak, as the team immediately returns to action after a blowout win over the defending champions. A four-game holiday homestand continues against the Toronto Raptors, who stand in between the Knicks and some personal history. With one more win, New York will earn its first nine-game winning streak since April 2021 but it will also tie Milwaukee and Boston for the longest winning streak in the NBA this season.
Toronto comes in reeling on six consecutive losses, the latest being a 104-101 overtime defeat at the hands of the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday night. This will be the first of four meetings between the Knicks and Raptors this season and New York will look to avenge a 1-3 mark against its division rivals from last season. They avoided a sweep with a 105-94 triumph in the regular season finale for both sides.
What: Toronto Raptors (13-18) @ New York Knicks (18-13)
Where: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
When/Watch: Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. ET, MSG/MSG Go
Who's Favored: NYK -1.5
Keep An Eye On: Immanuel Quickley
Almost every Knick beyond the de facto big three of RJ Barrett, Jalen Brunson, and Julius Randle has spent time in exile this season. Quickley, on the other hand, is one of the few reserves (along with Isaiah Hartenstein) that has managed to avoid it and he rewarded the faith Tom Thibodeau has placed in him on Tuesday night.
Quickley's shooting struggles have been no secret but the third-year man's propensity to find new ways to pack the box score has been no secret: he played a major defensive role in last week's three-game road trip to Chicago and Indiana despite shooting only 23 percent from the field. But he got back on the scoresheet in style on Tuesday, giving the Golden State Warriors a taste of their own medicine to the tune of a 5-of-6 output from three-point range.
"It always feels good to see some go in,” Quickley told the New York Post of his efforts against the Warriors. “I’m supposed to make every shot I shoot pretty much. When they don’t go in, next shot, shooter’s mentality ... I feel like that could be normal,” he said. “I don’t feel like that’s a breakout game. It’s another game.”
Toronto has allowed opponents to hit 48.6 percent of their shots this season, which ranks 27th in the NBA this season.
Raptor to Watch: Scottie Barnes
Much like the Chicago Bulls before them, the Knicks face another team that has a big decision to make come this winter's trade deadline, which could bid farewell to Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby. As memories of the Raptors' 2019 championship run continue to fade, speculation has begun over whether the franchise baton will be passed to Barnes, the most recent Rookie of the Year winner.
While Barnes has not been immune to the Raptors' regression (shooting just 12 percent from the field over the last three games), his potential has drawn the attention of opponents. That list includes Kevin Durant, who took in a taste of what Barnes could offer in the Brooklyn Nets' narrow 119-116 win in Toronto last Friday night.
"I think he's only going to get better as time goes on. I know a lot of people are expecting a lot out of him but (he's) still a young player, still growing every day. You got a good one up here in Toronto," Durant said of his young divisional foe, per All Raptors. "You get comfortable after your first year until you realize you really got to put your foot on the gas and get even better in your second and third year. I think Scottie understands that."
There will be plenty of time for the Knicks to worry about Anunoby and Siakam if they decide to go all in as buyers by the deadline (the Knicks are slated to head to Ontario on Jan. 6, and the Raptors shouldn't change too drastically by then). In more immediate affairs, the Knicks can't let Barnes get hot if they're looking to continue this holiday heater.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
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