Scenes from a 44-point obliteration of the Toronto Raptors.

On Wednesday night, the New York Knicks (44-28) faced off against a depleted Toronto Raptors (23-50) squad at the Scotiabank Arena. These aren’t the Kawhi Leonard-led, champion Raptors of a few years ago. Tonight the Canadians played without Scottie Barnes, RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley, and Jakob Poeltl, and the game looked more like a practice scrimmage than an NBA contest.

In the first half, Mitchell Robinson made a mighty return, contributing defensively and offensively, while Miles McBride led the New York Knicks with a searing shooting performance, scoring 20 points. By intermission, New York had scored 80 points, their highest first-half total of the season. Overall, the Knicks would hit 22-of-44 from downtown, the second-most in franchise history (24 on 10/22/21). Their lead would reach 44 points—their biggest of the season—in the second half as they breezed to a 145-101 win.

Cleveland lost to the Charlotte Hornets, so tonight’s win gives New York sole possession of third place in the East. Huzzah! New York has logged 13 wire-to-wire victories this season, the most in the NBA. McBride led all scorers with 29 points, seven assists, and a new career-best of nine three-pointers. He had a plus-minus of +40 (!). Jalen Brunson added 26 points and seven assists. From the bench, Bojan Bogdanovic contributed 18 bench points and Precious Achiuwa flexed with 19 points and 13 boards (seven offensive).

As for New York’s centers, Isaiah Hartenstein collected 15 points, four boards, and two stocks in 19 minutes; Robinson logged eight points, two boards, and two blocks in his 12 minutes. Is there a better center tandem in the league? Nyet!

First Half

Holy smokes! Deuce McBride was Johnny Flame from downtown, hitting 6-of-8 in the first period. With little resistance, New York jumped out to a 17-point lead.

At the five-minute mark, Mitchell Robinson checked in for Isaiah Hartenstein. In his first game since December 8, Mitch showed no signs of favoring his surgically repaired ankle through the first quarter. He blocked one shot, grabbed an offensive rebound, and scored two easy buckets at the rim. The Blockness Monster is back, folks!

The Knicks poured on the points to win the first quarter 45-33. In the second, a pair of Toronto triples brought them within 10 points, before an 11-0 run gave New York 60 points and a 21-point lead with 7:30 left in the half. By intermission, they had run up the score to 80-59. That’s the most they’ve scored in a first half this season, beating their previous best of 75 (Jan. 5 in Philly).

Seriously folks, Hartenstein and Robinson give the Knicks the league’s best 1-2 punch at the center position. My goodness, here’s more Mitch goodness.

In the first half, the visitors had outshot the home team 61% to 54% from the floor. Both teams had hit 50% of their longballs: Knicks 12, Raptors eight. The ‘Bockers had outrebounded the Raps, 23-10, and had swatted five blocks.

McBride led all scorers with 20 first-half points on 7-of-12 shooting, and Jalen Brunson was close behind with 17. For Toronto, rookie Gradey Dick led the way with 15 points and no rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, turnovers, or fouls in 17 minutes. What a statline!

Second Half

Neither team offered much defense to start the second half. There was more Dick action on Toronto’s end as the rookie set a new career-high, while Deuce converted his seventh triple, a new career-best. Impossibly, the Knicks had 90 points before they’d crossed the median of the third frame.

Not to be overlooked, Jalen Brunson kept rolling. He swishes a casual trey in the following clip. A few minutes later, Brunson would draw his 29th charge of the season, second-most in the NBA. New York was up by 24 points, but he still stepped in front of a freight train to draw the offensive foul. Toughest point guard in the NBA.

New York entered the final frame with a 111-80 lead. Shake Milton checked in early. The Raptors scored six unanswered points and were still behind by 30. Even with that lopsided score, Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau called a timeout to chastise his team for a few lackluster defensive sequences. Knicks basketball—there’s nothing like it.

Up Next

On to San Antonio to face the Spurs on Friday. Safe travels, Knickerbockers.

Box Score