 | New York Knicks | 117 | Final | 101 | Toronto Raptors |  |
 C- | J. Poeltl25 MIN, 10 PTS, 9 REB, 3 AST, 2 STL, 5-7 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 2 TO, -18 +/- Jakob looked pretty lethargic tonight, the Knicks had their way with him on switches, his movement on defense just wasn’t very good tonight. Even on the glass he was giving up plenty second chances. He had some solid rolls to the rim where he got some push shots up, but it was an overall muted game for the big man. | ||||||||
 D+ | S. Barnes37 MIN, 13 PTS, 5 REB, 4 AST, 2 STL, 6-18 FG, 1-6 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 2 TO, -20 +/- Scottie had a very rough time dealing with the clogged lane tonight, and he could not get the space to operate meticulously in the mid-range area like he usually does. As a spacer he shot poorly also. He had some trouble guarding the point-of-attack as well, he was better as a low man on defense, but with all the holes Toronto had tonight, even Barnes could not plug them. | ||||||||
 A- | B. Ingram39 MIN, 31 PTS, 6 REB, 6 AST, 2 STL, 11-18 FG, 3-5 3FG, 6-8 FT, 0 BLK, 3 TO, -4 +/- Ingram was unconscious in the first quarter putting up 17 in this period alone, every shot attempt felt like it was guaranteed to go in, and his mid-range touch was outstanding as usual, whether it was contested or not. Ingram cooled off as the game progressed, but he still had a nice scoring night. I thought this was a stronger passing game for him as well, although he still put up some questionable shots at times. | ||||||||
 A | J. Walter18 MIN, 13 PTS, 1 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 5-8 FG, 3-6 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -4 +/- Walter gave Toronto an immediate spark off the bench early, the scrappy guard knocked down two triples in the first, and gave Toronto some energy. Defensively he wasn’t as good as we’ve seen him be this year, with there being so much screening and movement from New York Walter had trouble on that end. | ||||||||
 C- | S. Mamukelashvili15 MIN, 2 PTS, 2 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 1-4 FG, 0-3 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, -11 +/- One of Mamu’s most quiet games this season, there wasn’t much space or chances for him to cut like he usually does so he was mainly an outside spacer and he missed all of his jumpers. He had a layup late in the ball game but by then the game was out of hand. | ||||||||
 C- | O. Agbaji26 MIN, 3 PTS, 4 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 1-4 FG, 0-1 3FG, 1-1 FT, 1 BLK, 0 TO, -7 +/- Agbaji got the start tonight, likely because of his defensive ability, and safe to say his defense was not the best. It would be disingenuous to place the bulk of the blame on him for Brunson’s high-scoring night, but he clearly had trouble with the shifty guard when he was on him. He was pretty poor in transition tonight, definitely left some meat on the bone with those looks. | ||||||||
 B- | J. Shead34 MIN, 18 PTS, 3 REB, 8 AST, 1 STL, 6-15 FG, 4-11 3FG, 2-4 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, -4 +/- Shead took full advantage of his start tonight and by that I mean he easily put up the most shots he has during this season as well as scored the most points he has this year. He had some nice cuts which got him a couple of looks at the rim, but he really was not shy about firing away from three. New York had no issue helping off of him and when the ball would get swung his way, he was putting up a shot or attacking the closeout. Defensively he gave up plenty of looks, he didn’t really stay in front of anyone. | ||||||||
 B | C. Murray-Boyles22 MIN, 6 PTS, 5 REB, 3 AST, 0 STL, 3-6 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-2 FT, 1 BLK, 1 TO, 13 +/- CMB played some physical basketball tonight, when he’d catch the ball under the basket he was immediately trying to bump guys out of the way, and he even got a couple layups to go in with this method. He showed off some of his defensive versatility tonight as well, playing at the level on screens and helping out on the glass also. | ||||||||
 B- | Darko Rajakovic Darko was trying literally anyone off the bench tonight in spurts. He was looking for someone off the bench to give him anything, since the team is facing so many injuries currently. He could’ve focused more on Brunson early to avoid some of the damage he inflicted tonight as well. | ||||||||
Things We Saw
- The injuries have made these games tough for Toronto, the guard rotation is as thin as ever and makes the offense so much worse.
- If Jakob Poeltl continues to play this poorly, maybe it is time that Toronto begins to look for a new man in the middle.
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