Returning home from a successful three-game road swing with three straight wins, the New York Knicks will host the Toronto Raptors, who are playing the second leg of a back-to-back, on Monday.
New York Knicks:
- The Knicks concluded their road trip on Saturday with a 104-93 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans, bookending the trip with a pair of defensive efforts that held opponents to fewer than 100 points.
- The Knicks began the swing with a 100-91 win over the Orlando Magic, and combined with a 133-107 rout of the Minnesota Timberwolves, the trio of road games improved their record to 8-2 over the last 10.
- Jalen Brunson bookended the road trip with his eighth and ninth games of 30-plus points this season, scoring 31 against Orlando and a season-high 39 against New Orleans.
- Brunson’s 25.1 points per game average is a dip from a season ago when he earned his first All-Star appearance and a second-team All-NBA selection, posting 28.7 points per game. Some of that is due to the Knicks’ offseason addition of Karl-Anthony Towns, who is scoring 24.5 points per game.
- In their last meeting with Toronto, a 113-108 win on Dec. 9, Brunson scored 20 points and had 11 assists, while Towns added 24 points and 15 rebounds, and Mikal Bridges scored 23 points.
Toronto Raptors:
- The Raptors are on a seven-game skid, which was extended by Sunday’s 114-110 loss to the Houston Rockets after squandering a 16-point lead.
- A bright spot in Sunday’s loss was rookie Ja’Kobe Walter, who scored a career-high 27 points. Walter had previously had three straight single-digit scoring performances following his 19-point effort against the Knicks.
- Another Raptors rookie, Jamal Shead, delivered a career-high 10 assists in Sunday’s game.
- The Raptors are dealing with injuries to key veterans. Former Knick Immanuel Quickley has been sidelined for almost two months with an elbow injury, and leading scorer RJ Barrett (23.5 points per game) missed Sunday’s game due to illness.
- Scottie Barnes played against Houston but scored just six points on 2-of-15 shooting due to lingering injury issues, according to Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic.
Key Players to Watch:
- New York Knicks: Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges
- Toronto Raptors: Ja’Kobe Walter, Scottie Barnes, RJ Barrett (if available), Jamal Shead
The Knicks will look to continue their winning momentum at home, while the Raptors aim to snap their losing streak. Fans can expect a competitive game as both teams bring their best efforts to the court.
