Field Level Media
Nov 1, 2021
OG Anunoby scored a career-high 36 points to help the visiting Toronto Raptors overcome a 15-point first-half deficit to beat the New York Knicks, 113-104, on Monday.
Gary Trent Jr. finished with 26 points for the Raptors, who won their fourth straight despite the absence of promising rookie Scottie Barnes, who was sidelined with a sprained right thumb suffered in Saturday's 97-94 win over the Indiana Pacers. Fred VanVleet had 17 points and Svi Mykhailiuk added 15 points.
RJ Barrett scored 27 points for the Knicks, who had their three-game winning streak snapped. New York's 5-2 record is still the best seven-game start for the franchise since 2012-13.
Anunoby was 13-of-27 from the field and notched his third career 30-point game, topping his previous high of 32 points against the Denver Nuggets on Mar. 1, 2020.
After scoring 18 points in the first quarter, Julius Randle finished with 22. Kemba Walker had 15 points and Evan Fournier chipped in with 12.
Randle's big first quarter fueled a sizzling start by the Knicks, who collected their first 12 points via a quartet of 3-pointers and finished with eight 3-pointers on their way to taking a 34-26 lead.
The Knicks scored the first seven points of the second to push the lead to 15 as Fournier's layup with 4:32 left extended New York's lead to 50-35 before the Raptors began charging back with a half-ending 18-7 run to pull within 57-53 at the half. Trent had eight points in the surge.
VanVleet and Trent hit floating jumpers to open the second half. Anunoby gave the Raptors their first lead since 2-0. The teams traded the lead five times and were tied once before Mykhailiuk's 3-pointer with 7:22 left gave Toronto the lead for good at 68-66. The Raptors rolled off a 26-11 run that began with four 3-pointers in as many possessions.
The Raptors extended their lead to 14 -- 91-77 -- on a jumper by Khem Birch with 1:12 left. The Knicks got no closer than nine in the fourth, when another jumper by Birch gave Toronto its biggest lead at 109-94 with 1:57 remaining.
--Field Level Media