Back on Track. NY 112 Toronto 98

January 10, 2025 LouV 2024-25 0
OG Anunoby slam. Photo courtesy NY Knicks.

Karl-Anthony Towns was back after missing a game, and OG Anunoby starred against his former team, as the Knicks broke their 3-game losing streak with a solid win over Toronto on a COLD Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden (temps outside in the high teens with heavy wind).

On the coldest night of the year outside, it was a nice night to be inside the World’s Most Famous Arena with popcorn and a soda or beer to watch the Knicks lead from the start — a single-digit lead that NY pushed several times to double digits before taking a 26-pt lead with a run at the start of the 4th. Toronto scored the last 12 points of the game in the final 2 minutes against Knick reserves.

  • Towns rolled to a big night with 27 pts on 9-14 shooting (3-3 from 3), with 13 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 blocks, and a +25.
  • OG Anunoby had 27 pts on 8-13 shooting (4-6 from 3), 2 steals, and a block. Hart was everywhere with 21 pts on 9-14 shooting (2-5 from 3) with 11 rebounds, 7 assists, and some Brunson-esq dribble penetrations.
  • Brunson himself only took 13 shots (5-13 for 13 pts) but dished out 7 assists.
  • And Mikal Bridges had a tough shooting night (4-18 including 2-11 from 3) but still had a +26.

“I thought we came out with a really strong spirit of togetherness,” said coach Tom Thibodeau afterwards. “Good things come from that. They’re a team that plays real fast. They’ll test you in terms of defensive transition and I think our guys responded well to that. They’re getting healthy — they got guys back; Quickley being back; RJ is a load to deal with; Protel is big; Barnes is a star in the league. We knew it would be a good test for us. And we played well overall. As the game went along we got stronger and stronger.”

“That’s what we have to strive towards,” continued Thibs. “Each day get better; make corrections; improve; understand its a long season; we have to keep growing; when we fall short learn from it and get ready for the next one.”

NY improves to 25-13; Toronto falls to 8-29.

1. Towns Was Back

Karl-Anthony Towns was back after missing a game with knee soreness, and the Knick offense looked back in shape. Towns was able to score inside all night against the 7’0 Jacob Poeltl and 6’10 Kelly Olynyk, and hit the 3 ball.

Towns started off slowly, with a single bucket in the 1st quarter — OG Anunoby, Josh Hart, Jalen Brunson, and Mikal Bridges were doing the scoring. NY rolled out to a 28-19 lead before Toronto scored the last 5 points of the 1st quarter to make the score 28-21 after 1.

Towns really got started in the 2nd quarter, starting the period with a drive for free throws, then hitting a 3 to give NY a 33-24 lead.

But old friend Immanuel Quickley fired back with buckets and free throws, and Toronto was able to stay with NY — not allowing them to maintain a double-digit lead.

RJ Barrett and Scottie Barnes scored buckets late in the quarter to pull Toronto to within 55-51 at the half.

2. OG Dominated RJ

OG Anunoby had a night against his former team, much of it coming against RJ Barrett. OG stole the ball from Barrett on multiple occasions, and was hitting the 3 ball. Barrett’s boxscore was decent with 16 pts on 7-15 shooting, but OG got the better of him all evening.

NY was up 63-58 with 8 minutes left in the 3rd when OG stole the ball from Barrett, then hit a 3 down the other end for a 66-58 NY lead.

Precious Achiuwa, the other player in the OG-RJ trade, also had a good game against his former team — with 6 pts (3-5 shooting) and 4 rebounds in 15 minutes.

3. Toronto Hangs In Until Late in 3rd

NY kept trying to push the lead into double digits, but Toronto hung tough all night — soon pulling the game back to a 4- or 5-point game much of the evening until late in the 3rd quarter.

A Brunson drive, Towns 3, Towns free throws, and OG free throws (after being fouled by Barrett), and a Landry Shamet drive put NY up by 15 — 77-62 with 4:48 left in the 3rd.

Still Toronto was able to pull back to 10 points down on a 3 by Scottie Barnes and 2 free throws at the end of the 3rd quarter by Quickley.

5. NY Blows Toronto Out in 4th

Towns hit a 3 to start the 4th, but Toronto came right back with a Quickley 3; Josh Hart hit a drive; but Scottie Barnes hit a drive Still at 10-pt game.

But NY was gaining momentum and sensed blood. They intensified their D and brought out their killer instinct. Josh Hart was everywhere, as was OG Anunoby, Landry Shamet, and Cameron Payne; Towns was scoring inside; NY got offense from their defense — and NY went on a 15-0 run.

Shamet hit a pullup, Towns hit a floater inside, Hart drove for a layup using a Jalen-Brunson-esq dribble penetration, OG drove for a dunk off a Hart pass, Hart tipped in an offensive rebound.

Hart, Hart, Hart.

“Josh Hart fills a stat sheet daily and what Josh does is not seek stats,” pointed out NBA Analyst Ross Kreines. “But what he does is seek every rebound by outworking you, gets all 50/50 balls and turns it into 20/80 balls by wanting it more, finds the open man by making the right play and playing unselfish. Josh seeks wins.”

Then OG stole the ball from RJ and dunked, OG hit 2 free throws after being fouled by RJ, and Josh Hart hit a free throw. NY was up by 25 at 106-81 with 4 minutes left.

Seconds later Hart hit a 3, and Mikal Bridges followed with a 3 and it was 112-86 NY with 2:30 left.

Landry Shamet was also key to the run — it was his best game as a Knick with 8 pts on 4-8 shooting in 21 minutes.

“He’s getting his legs under him,” said Thibs. “That’s what we liked about him. In the pre-season as well. You can execute with him; he makes the extra pass; he reads the floor well; he hustles on defense; he blocks out; he blocks cutters; he applies ball pressure; he challenges shots; he moves without the ball. There are a lot of things that he does that aren’t necessarily reflected in statistics but he help the team function well.”

Thibs Empties the Bench

Thibs emptied the bench, bringing in Tyler Kolek, Jacob Toppin, and Matt Ryan — and Toronto’s Chris Boucher hit consecutive 3’s and a drive for 8 straight points. Then Garrett Temple hit free throws and Olynyk made a meaningless bucket for the final score — Toronto scoring the last 12 points to only lose by 14.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401705077

 

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