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TORONTO — The Raptors’ homecourt advantage was useless against the New York Knicks as they walloped Toronto, 117-101.
Jalen Brunson waxed hot early in the game scoring 20 of his game-high 35 points in the first quarter.
Karl-Anthony Towns had another double-double of 14 points and 16 rebounds, while Josh Hart added 21 points.
Brandon Ingram led the Raptors with 31, while Jamal Shead — starting in place of Immanuel Quickley, sidelined by an undisclosed illness — finished with 18 points and eight assists.
2024 NBA All-Star Scottie Barnes only had 13 points and 5 rebounds, which were both below his season average.
Prior to the game, Barnes was awarded the Eastern Conference Defensive Player of the Month being the only player in the league that had more than 30 steals and more than 30 blocks during that time — becoming the first Raptor to be awarded of the honor.
Knicks Head Coach Mike Brown made special mention of former Raptor OG Anunoby for his play: “OG was our defensive player of the game, he had a monster game you know switching back and forth between Josh and Mikal guarding (Scottie) Barnes and (Brandon) Ingram great game by all 3 of our guys defensively.”
The two-time Coach of the Year added, “Every time the ball moved all 5 guys moved, all 5 guys were in sync.” The Knicks led as much by 24 points and never looked back.
The Raptors have now lost four straight, all at home.
New York now holds solo second place with a 17-7 record — just two games behind the Eastern Conference-leading Pistons.
The Knicks will now face the Orlando Magic for the NBA Cup semi-finals on December 13 for a chance to win more than $500,000 for each of their players, while the Raptors will have nine days off and play the Bucks at Milwaukee next Thursday.