Raptors crushed by Knicks again in potential playoff preview

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The long-awaited Toronto Raptors return to the playoffs will have to wait another game.

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With a shot at clinching the franchise’s first post-season berth since 2021-22, the short-handed Raptors instead dropped a 13th straight game to the New York Knicks, this time 112-95 at Madison Square Garden.

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Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns torched Toronto yet again, New York led nearly wire-to-wire, and everything now comes down to a home date against the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday.

The Raptors, coming off a big win Thursday against the Miami Heat, decided to take a conservative approach to the game, letting a number of banged-up players sit out the second half of the back-to-back. Starters Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett did not play against their former team, while surging rookie Collin Murray-Boyles also got the night off. Jakob Poeltl did play both games of a back-to-back for just the second time since his return from his back injury in early March. Scottie Barnes and Brandon Ingram were a lot quieter in this one, but Ja’Kobe Walter played well again.

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It’s possible some of this was gamesmanship by the Raptors, since New York is a potential playoff opponent. The Knicks went with a full lineup, other than backup centre Mitchell Robinson, who has given Toronto problems at times.

The Raptors entered in control of their own destiny, able to lock up the fifth spot in the Eastern Conference with wins Friday and Sunday. New York was still jostling with Cleveland for third, coming in a game in front. The Cavaliers don’t seem to care, since they rested top player Donovan Mitchell, along with Jarrett Allen on Friday against Atlanta. Cleveland did Toronto no favours there, since Atlanta entered with the same record as the Raptors. The Hawks hammered Cleveland, moving back into fifth place.

Meanwhile, in Gotham, the visitors trailed 51-36 at the half and committed two more turnovers than they had all game Thursday. It could have been worse, had New York not missed 14 of 18 three-point attempts. The Knicks kept piling it on inside in the third quarter and that was enough, since the Raptors weren’t connecting on a lot of three-pointers either.

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Toronto closed within nine points late in the third quarter, but then gave up a 9-0 run and the game never really got close again.

More takeaways from the penultimate game of Toronto’s regular season:

PLAYOFF PICTURE GETTING CLEARER

Detroit and Boston have now clinched first and second, respectively in the East. The Knicks secured third for the second season in a row, Cleveland fourth.

Toronto can still catch Atlanta for fifth place on Sunday by beating Brooklyn, combined with an Atlanta loss in Miami (the two teams would have the same record, but Toronto owns the tie-breaker over the Hawks).

Orlando also won Friday and has the same record as the Raptors, but Toronto owns that tie-breaker as well, so the Raptors will finish ahead of the Magic by either beating Brooklyn or a Magic loss in Boston.

However, if Toronto, Atlanta and Orlando all finish with the same record, then Atlanta gets fifth because they are the only division-winner of the three and that trumps head-to-head record in three-way ties. Got that? Seems overly complicated.

Anyway, to confuse even more, Toronto can still finish behind Philadelphia, winners over Indiana on Friday, with a loss to Brooklyn, along with a Sixers win over Milwaukee.

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JAK OFF TRACK?

Jakob Poeltl struggled to contain Towns, who has a quickness advantage against him and is also an elite outside shooter, and that combination makes it even harder to defend against him. Towns had his way with Poeltl in the first half, setting the tone for the Knicks.

Poeltl had not looked great in the Raptors’ game on Thursday, though he was quite solid in the win over Miami two days prior. The big man has been a bit too hit or miss lately though, mixing good outings (like against New Orleans or Denver) with duds (like his game against Boston or earlier against the Los Angeles Clippers).

Had Murray-Boyles played, he likely would have seen plenty of time matched up with Towns, and if the teams do meet in the playoffs, it will be interesting to see if Poeltl is utilized mostly against Robinson, with Murray-Boyles starting and defending Towns. That’s what should happen. In the future, Toronto’s centre position could be situational, with Poeltl, Murray-Boyles and even Sandro Mamukelashvili, if he can be re-signed in free agency, all being utilized there depending on the matchups. Mamukelashvili led Toronto on Friday with 17 points.

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Lately, the team also has gone back to pairing Murray-Boyles with either Poeltl or Mamukelashvili, with both combinations looking effective (Murray-Boyles/Mamukelashvili had struggled earlier in the season, but has come around lately, with Murray-Boyles saying the more active he is, the better it has looked).

EXCLUSIVE COMPANY

Darko Rajakovic became the fifth Raptors head coach to win 100 games with the club Thursday. He’s also sixth out of the nine before him in winning percentage, though 1.5 years or rebuilding hurt him there. Dwane Casey had a .455 winning percentage through his first three seasons with the Raptors, but finished at .573.

After Sunday, Rajakovic will tie Lenny Wilkens at 246 games coached with Toronto, fourth-most in franchise history.

The Raptors hand out a gold chain that spins to the player of the game after every win, but on Thursday, Rajakovic was given it after his achievement. The team went berserk when Barnes did the honours.

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Ingram was asked Thursday how Rajakovic has helped him improve this late into his career.

“He holds me accountable on and off the floor. He tells me what I need to do, whether I want to hear it or not,” Ingram said.

“He’s made me a better defender. He’s made me care about that side of the basketball more, and on the offensive end, he just wants the best for me, and he’s there to communicate. He understands that I’m not a finished product. I’m still evolving, I’m still learning, and I still want to get better, so he coaches me in that way.

@WolstatSun

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