Always Be Closing
In ending their latest win on a 16-2 run, the Knicks showed just how legit their defense suddenly is.
Good morning! That’s 12 straight wins against the Raptors. Let’s hope the streak never ends.
Knicks 111, Raptors 95
40-22 (W3); 17-14 on the road
When Immanuel Quickley dropped one of his patented runners through the net to cut the deficit to two with six minutes left, you had to wonder:
Is this finally the moment when the ex-Knicks would get their long-awaited revenge?
The Quickley make was preceded by nine consecutive Raptor points by RJ Barrett, so the script was halfway written. At the very least, with the score 95-93 and half a quarter to go, New York’s mini-streak of holding opponents under 100 points would end at two.
But as fast as they gave some hope to the spirited Raptors, they turned off the faucet even faster.
Hell, they had the plumbing removed entirely.
In ending the game on a 16-2 run, the Knicks not only garnered their third consecutive win and fifth in the last six games, but they kept their under-100 streak alive. The three straight games of holding opponents to double digit points matches a stretch they had at the end of January and gives them 10 such outings in their last 19 games. They had three in the previous 43.
At this point, with the league’s top defense for a full quarter of the NBA season (and with a margin of 3.1 points per 100 possessions over the next best unit, no less), it’s impossible to call this group anything but legit. The trio of wings assembled to be their backbone is playing at their collective best, with Josh Hart the latest among them to take center stage.
