New York Knicks edge Toronto Raptors in NBA thriller

TORONTO – New York Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau was not getting ahead of himself despite his team’s victory in their National Basketball Association (NBA) clash at the Toronto Raptors on Dec 9.

Karl-Anthony Towns delivered a double-double of 24 points and 15 rebounds, as the Knicks warmed up for the NBA Cup quarter-finals with a hard-fought 113-108 victory over the home side.

But with New York on a 15-9 win-loss record this season and three places behind the Eastern Conference-leading Cleveland Cavaliers, Thibodeau insisted his side still have work to do.

“We got to continue to improve because there is a lot of things we need to work on. The games keep coming, so the most important thing is to find a way to win,” he said.

“Defensively we have to be tight together. I like how unselfish we are offensively today and the same mentality must apply defensively... when we are tight together we are pretty good defensively.

“We play as a team. It’s a team game so we want to have a five-man offence and five-man defence, and when you do that I think it’s enjoyable for everyone.”

Towns was back in the line-up after missing the Knicks’ loss to the Detroit Pistons on Dec 7 with a sore right knee – a defeat that ended New York’s four-game winning streak.

The Knicks needed his contribution in a bruising game that featured 19 lead changes. Against the Pistons, they trailed by as many as 17 points without him and lost at home 120-111. New York never led in the game.

Toronto’s R.J. Barrett – a former Knick – tied it at 108-108 with a finger roll lay-up with 42.1 seconds remaining.

But Towns, fed by Jalen Brunson, made a driving lay-up and then, after former Raptor O.G. Anunoby came up with a big block for the Knicks, drilled a three-pointer with 6.3sec remaining that sealed the win.

That five points he scored proved crucial in the end.

Mikal Bridges added 23 points and Brunson had 20 points and 11 assists for the Knicks, who have won 10 of their last 13 games. Anunoby scored 14 points in his first game in Toronto since joining the Knicks.

Barrett led the Raptors with 30 points. Rookie Ja’Kobe Walter scored a career-high 19 and Scottie Barnes had 15 for Toronto before departing in the third quarter with a sprained right ankle after colliding with Towns under the basket.

It was another blow for Barnes, the 2022 NBA Rookie of the Year who missed 11 games this season with a right orbital fracture.

“Scottie tweaked his right ankle,” said Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic. “We did X-rays and they came out negative and we will see how he feels tomorrow morning and we go from there.”

On the game, he singled out the 20-year-old Walter for praise.

“He is putting a lot of work in, he is a good shooter. He is a young player but he continues to believe in himself and we believe in his shot and encourage him to take all of those,” he said.

“If you miss a shot you move on, you make a shot you move on. He’s that type of shooter and he can do that for us.”

The clash in Toronto was the only game on the slate on Dec 9 as the league geared up for the knockout stage of the NBA Cup this week.

The quarter-finals tip off on Dec 10 (Dec 11, Singapore time) when the Milwaukee Bucks host the Orlando Magic and the Oklahoma City Thunder welcome the Dallas Mavericks.

On Dec 11, the Knicks will host the Atlanta Hawks and the Houston Rockets are at home against the Golden State Warriors.

The winners will play the semi-finals on Dec 14 in Las Vegas where the final will be held three days later. AFP, REUTERS