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1 advantage the Toronto Raptors have over every Atlantic rival

By Mike Luciano

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - FEBRUARY 11: Jaylen Brown #7 of the Boston Celtics defends Pascal Siakam #43 of the Toronto Raptors (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - FEBRUARY 11: Jaylen Brown #7 of the Boston Celtics defends Pascal Siakam #43 of the Toronto Raptors (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /
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Toronto Raptors
NEW YORK, NY – APRIL 11: Malachi Flynn #8 of the Toronto Raptors attempts a shot as Immanuel Quickley #5 of the New York Knicks defends (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /

New York Knicks: Perimeter scoring

The Knicks are once again a winning franchise by following the patented Tom Thibodeau formula. They’ve dominated the paint on both sides of the floor and created a crunching defense. However, as the Hawks showed in the postseason, they could be in trouble if they are forced to get into a shootout.

The Raptors are coached by a mastermind at generating production out of guards in Nick Nurse, and the combination of his schematic acumen, two guards like VanVleet and Trent, and OG Anunoby continuing to make strides as a shooter and scorer, Toronto shouldn’t be scared of the Knicks.

https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1381072579797123077

The Toronto Raptors could be able to beat the Knicks in shootouts.

Evan Fournier and Kemba Walker are coming off of slightly disappointing tenures in Boston despite their talents, and Immanuel Quickley started to slightly regress in the latter half of the season.

With the VanVleet-Trent combo nullifying Walker and Fournier, Toronto’s deep bench full of veterans and youngsters alike might be enough to cause the Knicks some real headaches.

Julius Randle will get his, and RJ Barrett continuing his development into a star could almost totally fix those issues, but the Knicks would be unique to count on such a drastic improvement from the squad as a whole. If Toronto wants to have a better record than New York this season, they need to lean on their ability to shoot the lights out.