Knicks squeeze out 122-120 win over Raptors in preseason finale

The Knicks seemed like their championship selves Thursday evening, beating the Toronto Raptors, 122-120, in their ultimate preseason contest. New York completed the preseason 1-4.

Here are the takeaways…

— New York mounted its strongest efficiency of the preseason, avenging (can you search revenge for a preseason sport?) its 50-point loss to the Raptors on Tuesday. Despite falling behind early, New York shortly took the lead with assured threes, fast drives to the basket, and clean rebounds.

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Overall, the group shot 48 p.c from the subject, 36 p.c from behind the three-point line, and 78 p.c from the free-throw line — the first two representing preseason bests.

— Though coach Mike Brown stayed true to his pregame promise of treating the matchup like a gown rehearsal for the common season, affording his 5 starters — Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Mo Diawara — actual starter minutes for the first time, the profitable effort came from gamers up and down the roster. (Diawara was beginning in place of Josh Hart, who missed the sport with ankle soreness.)

Eleven totally different Knicks saw the court across the first half. Every one of them scored at least two factors, and six grabbed 5 or more. Aside from Pacome Dadiet, they each performed six-plus minutes.

— Brunson, though, drove the effort, racking up 20 factors, three rebounds, and seven assists across 29 minutes of play. He also went 5-for-6 from the free-throw line and landed his single three-point attempt.

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— Towns had a large influence at the high post, recording one-third of the Knicks’ 21 first-half assists (7 of 21) and rebounds (9 of 27). He completed the sport just one help shy of a preseason triple-double (13 factors, 15 assists, 9 rebounds).

— After waiving Tony Bradley and Drew Eubanks during the day Thursday, the Knicks were left with just two candidates trying to fill the extremely contested ultimate slot: James Wiseman and Bruce Brown.

Only Wiseman performed, and he only took the court in the waning minutes of the sport. In that four-minute stint, he recorded two factors and one rebound.

— Though Miles McBride sat out much of the latter half of the sport, the longest-tenured Knick carried the first quarter on his back, ending the body with three-straight triples and going 3-for-6 both from the subject and from the arc.

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— Toronto’s Jaden Bradley, a 2026 second-round draft choose, tied the sport at 117 with less than a minute left, touchdown a subject aim and incomes a free throw on a foul from Tyler Kolek, but the Knicks pulled forward again by the finish thanks to a three from Kolek and two foul pictures from Tyler Nickel.

— Scottie Barnes (23 factors, 4-for-5 from beyond the arc), as properly as former Knicks RJ Barrett (21 factors) and Immanuel Quickley (18 factors), stored the Raptors in the combine, but their efforts to topple the reigning NBA champions once again fell just short.

Game MVP: Scottie Barnes

The 25-year-old guard led all gamers in factors (23).

Highlights