Raptors [11-5] at Knicks [9-7]: Preview & 3 keys to victory

Toronto begins another road trip with a stop in New York. The Knicks look like a fringe playoff contender, and want revenge on the Raptors, so this game won’t be easy.

The Raptors have owned the Knicks the past few seasons. Toronto has prevailed the last eight times the teams have clashed. That’s largely a function of the Knicks’ sad teams recently. New York has won one playoff series this century, and hasn’t been in the post-season since 2012-13.

While fans in the Big Apple have fallen in love with (alleged) unicorn Kristaps Porzingis, they might not be so crazy about the rest of the roster. The Knicks are severely unbalanced offensively – if Porzingis and/or Tim Hardaway Jr. is bottled up or missing shots, there’s no Plan B.

TORONTO, ON – NOVEMBER 17: Kristaps Porzingis /

The Raptors made life miserable for Porzingis last week at the Air Canada Centre by affixing Pascal (NonStop) Siakam to the big (really big) man’s hip. Toronto cruised to an easy victory.

[20-second timeout: I’m serious about wanting to create a nickname for Siakam. He’s got so much mojo. The last players with his degree of common-man appeal were the Junk Yard Dog (Jerome Williams) and, to a much lesser extent, Jamario Moon. “NonStop” isn’t terribly exciting, but I’ve got to start somewhere. If you have a suggestion, please send it as a Comment.]

Until the Knicks get a real pair of starting guards, they are going nowhere. Courtney Lee is 32, and Jarrett Jack is 34. Neither was a star when they were at their peak, whenever that was. By the time Porzingis, Enes Kanter, Hardaway et al are truly ready to rock the house, Lee and Jack will be parked on the bench, at best.

Coach Jeff Hornacek needs to pick a couple of youthful horses and ride them, even if that means another trip to the draft lottery.

French rookie Frank Ntilikina is the hope at the point, but he’s not close to being ready for his turn in the spotlight. He’s 19, Knicks fans – dial down your expectations. [Ntilikina has been ill, but is listed as “probable” for tonight.]

As for a shooting guard…Doug McDermott perhaps? Hardaway should be their 3-man.

3 keys to Raptors victory

Clamp down in the second half. The Raptors allowed 20 points to the Knicks, and 15 to the Wiz, in their last two fourth quarters. Not surprisingly, both games were wins. One might attribute the team’s late-game success to a number of factors. To me, the most important is the deep rotation Toronto enjoys. Our guys seem ready to play all 48 minutes.
Make Porzingis rush everything. New York’s biggest offensive threat made a lot of faulty decisions while being covered by Siakam (and by Kyle Lowry, who wouldn’t back down either).
Crank up the 3-ball shooting. Obviously deep shooting accuracy comes and goes. What’s most important is creating open looks for the plethora of shooters Toronto employs. If Lowry, OG Anunoby, CJ Miles and the rest move the ball, the results will be positive.

Prediction

The Raptors will lose a game to the Knicks this season; no streak lasts forever. I’m not prepared to say it’s this one. We’ll miss Norman Powell and Delon Wright again, but not enough to change the outcome.

Toronto 111 – New York 107

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