Karl-Anthony Towns returned and got the Knicks back on track.
After missing last year's tournament with a sore knee, the star center led New York's offense to a 112-98 win over the last-place Raptors, dropping 27 points to help the Knicks end a season-high three-game losing streak. Contributed.
The Knicks (25-13) got top marks from Towns as Jalen Brunson and Mikal Bridges battled through another tough shooting night.
The Raptors (8-29) were unable to catch up and were run off MSG court by the Knicks in a dominant fourth quarter, outscoring Toronto by 15 points in the first eight minutes of the final period.
Towns had a healthy 13 rebounds, three steals, and two blocks.
He was an amazing person.
However, the situation looked precarious in the first quarter, with the center wincing on the court and clearly in pain, but it was unclear why.
Josh Hart also immediately flinched, running to the locker room after apparently hurting his ribs in the first half, and then coming back a short time later.
Both continued to play and put up big numbers.
Hart had 21 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists.
OG Anunoby added 27 points against his former team and regained his 3-point stroke while hitting 4 of 6 with treys.
The Knicks' backcourt has continued to struggle with 3-point shooting as of late, with Brunson and Bridges combining for just three conversion treys on 15 attempts.
Bridges made just 2-of-11 shots from beyond the arc.
That has been an issue for weeks, but it wasn't an issue against the stinky Raptors, who committed 16 turnovers.
Thibodeau did not want to argue over the issue from a distance.
“Well, you have to be balanced,” the coach said. “It's easy for people to focus on the amount of threes, but then you end up going through stretches where you can't get threes. But it's really all about getting as many layups as possible. It begins. I want to attack the rim, cut. I want to be more balanced. I want to get closer to the line. I want to make more layups and I want to make good open threes. And we need easy baskets. You are also responsible for creating them.”
New York was still without Miles McBride, who missed five straight games with a hamstring strain.
McBride tested the injury again in pregame training, but again watched for 48 minutes in street clothes.
“He has to go through all the protocols and will depart when he feels well enough,” Thibodeau said. “He's doing the best he can. He just has to be patient and get through it.”
In McBride's absence, Thibodeau returned to an eight-man rotation with backups Precious Achiuwa, Cam Payne and Landry Shamet.
The Knicks continued their trend of having the least productive bench in the NBA, with only a 14 point difference between the two teams.
The Raptors have been plagued by injuries this season, but brought a fully healthy roster to MSG on Wednesday.
Former Knicks RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley were in the starting lineup and played reasonably well, combining for 38 points.
It was the second time both players played against the Knicks since Anunoby and Achiuwa were traded about a year ago.
As a result, there was no video tribute on Wednesday, and reactions during the introduction were muted.
All parties have moved on.
Barrett had to return to his hometown of Toronto. Quickley, who has coached just seven games this season, earned a big contract extension that the Knicks weren't offering him.
Anunoby also received a fat new contract.
The big difference is that the Raptors are near the bottom of the East, while the Knicks are winning.
The Knicks were coming off losses to Oklahoma City, Chicago and Orlando, but their success was overshadowed by Monday's fumble at home against the Magic.
The center came back and sent a message.
“We just have to play 48 minutes,” Thibodeau said. “I thought we played a really good game in OKC. Chicago, we didn't play as well as we needed to in the second half. We were flat against Orlando, so we have to bounce back.”
