Bringing the Payne

Spurred by their backup point guard, the Knicks had yet another dominant offensive performance.

Good morning everyone, and Happy Christmas Eve to those who celebrate. The Knicks gave us an early present last night. Let’s unwrap.

Game 29: Knicks 139, Raptors 125

All I want for Christmas is Josh Hart

• The Knicks got off to another slow start thanks to turnovers and poor transition defense, but strong shooting had them tied after one.

• Cam Payne spurred a 15-2 run to flip momentum.

• OG Anunoby’s scoring outburst late in the third put the game out of reach.

• A sloppy fourth made the score closer than it should have been and kept the starters in until the final minutes.

• Landry Shamet checked in in garbage time and made his only shot attempt.

How good is this Knicks team?

Good enough that the guy I spent yesterday’s newsletter waxing poetic about didn’t score his first point until there was less than two minutes to go in the first half, but New York was already up by 18 regardless.

There will be more nights like Saturday, when the Knicks needed Jalen Brunson to save them. Far more often though, the totality of their offensive skill will simply be too much for an opponent to handle.

That was the case on Monday, when Brunson was tied for the fifth most points on his team, and it didn’t matter in the slightest.