Obi Toppin Posts Dominant Yet Diminished Effort in Knicks' Latest Loss
Was this Obi the New York Knicks' "only hope" on Sunday night? Alas, metropolitan management wasn't keen on finding out.
Toppin, the Knicks' embattled first-round pick from 2020, posted one of his best efforts of the season in Toronto over the weekend, scoring 14 points in a divisional showdown across the northern border. A bulk of that scoring came from deep as Toppin sank a season-best four triples, taking over the New York bench scoring in the wake of Immanuel Quickley's late scratch.
Almost anywhere else, Toppin's outing could be seen as a sign of progress, a step in the right direction for a top ten pick that has struggled to find his professional footing since arriving from Dayton. It was also a sign of Toppin taking advantage of an opportunity afforded by the absence of not only Quickley but fellow post man Mitchell Robinson as well.
This being the new century Knicks, however, it becomes a belabored ordeal.
Toppin accomplished his work in less than 11 minutes on Sunday, having been held out of the second half almost entirely while New York (25-23) climbed back from a 17-point deficit. His lone contribution in the second was an equalizing dunk, shortly before the hosting Raptors embarked on a 24-8 run that permanently shifted momentum in a 125-116 final. The Knicks have now dropped four straight and have fallen out of the Eastern Conference's top six automatic playoff entrants.
As if things weren't perplexing enough from a Knicks perspective, it got to a point where even the Raptors' broadcast on The Sports Network audibly expressed shock that Toppin wasn't in the game. It's perhaps the latest set of hills on a rollercoaster saga that has defined Toppin's professional endeavors to date, ones that featured hope in the form of a career-best performance against the same Raptors in the Knicks' 2021-22 season finale last spring.
The fact that Toppin couldn't see the floor despite quickly earning his first double-figure effort since November is perhaps a troubling sign for the future ahead, at least when it comes to viewing it from a blue and orange perspective. Head coach Tom Thibodeau stressed that Toppin would be eased back into the rotation after a knee injury ate away at most of his December, but it's not like time woes are anything new in this saga: at just below 15 minutes a game, only two first-round picks from 2020 have touched the floor less than Toppin (one of them, ironically, was also a New York pick but No. 23 man Leandro Bolmaro was immediately dealt to Minnesota).
The recent losing streak has thrown the Knicks' trade deadline prospects into disarray as Feb. 9 approaches. They're winless in three games since Robinson was diagnosed with a three-week medical departure but are four up on Toronto and Washington for Play-In Tournament entry. The heat around Toppin's name should intensify as a result, especially with the team more or less satisfied with keeping Quickley around.
Only the modern Knicks could perhaps turn an inspiring effort into a cause for concern. But, right now, any Toppin minutes feel like an audition for further trade capital than anything that can help push the Knicks in the right direction.
New York's chance to end a four-game losing comes on Tuesday night when it welcomes in the Cleveland Cavaliers (7:30 p.m. ET, MSG).
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
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