Game #73 - Raptors vs Knicks
Precious Achiuwa's revenge game is incoming! Of the five players involved in the Raptors/Knicks trade in January, Achiuwa will be only one to take the court tonight.
Toronto vs New York
TOR: 23-49 record, 12th in the East
13-23 at home. 10-26 on the road. 112.2 offensive rating (24th), 117.2 defensive rating (24th), -4.9 net rating (24th).
- Toronto is playing the 2nd game of a 4-game homestand tonight against New York, their final meeting against the Knicks this season. Including tonight’s game, Toronto has 10 games remaining this season – 5 at home, 5 on the road. 8 of their final 10 games are against teams with winning records. Toronto has a 1-game lead on the 6th best odds in the draft & is set to have 3 selections at the 2024 NBA Draft – 6th (own FRP, top-6 protected), 17th (via IND) & 31st (DET via NYK).
- Raptors have lost 11 straight games, the 6th longest losing streak in franchise history & longest since 2011. Toronto’s 11-game losing streak is the longest active losing streak in the NBA & tied for the 4th longest by any team this season. Raptors have lost 5 straight home games. A loss tonight would mark their longest losing streak in Toronto since 2005. Raptors will finish with a losing record at home this season, ending their 10-season streak with a winning record in Toronto.
- The Raptors & Knicks haven’t made the playoffs in the same season since 2000-01, when they met in the first round. In fact, one of the two teams have made the playoffs in every season since 2011, but they have not appeared in the same playoffs. The streak will continue this season as the Raptors made the postseason, but not the playoffs last season.
- Raptors have lost their last 3 meetings against the Knicks, their longest losing streak against New York since they got swept in their season series in 2010-11. Toronto is playing New York for the 2nd time after acquiring Immanuel Quickley & RJ Barrett from the Knicks in exchange for OG Anunoby, Precious Achiuwa & Malachi Flynn. Only Precious Achiuwa will play in tonight’s meeting as Quickley & Barrett are out for Toronto & Anunoby is out for New York. Malachi Flynn was traded by the Knicks to Detroit at the deadline.
- Raptors were held to a season-low 88 points in a loss to the Nets on Monday, falling to 1-12 against division opponents this season. Kelly Olynyk led the Raptors in assists for the 2nd consecutive game & scored or assisted on 28 of their 88 points. His 3 screen assists led to 7 points for Toronto.
- Gradey Dick has played 51 games this season, tied for 3rd most of any Raptor this season. Through his first 20 games of the season, Dick averaged 3.3 points on 28.2% shooting & averaged 12.3 minutes. In 30 games since, he’s averaging 10.0 points on 45.2% shooting & is playing 24.2 minutes.
- Gradey Dick is averaging 11.4 FGA over his last 10 games, his most in any-10 game span this season.
- Kelly Olynyk is averaging 12.0 points, 5.0 rebounds & 9.5 assists in his last 2 games, scoring or assisting on 32.5 points in that span. Olynyk has scored or assisted on 33% of the Raptors points over the last 2 games (65 of 197 points). Olynyk is also leading the Raptors with 3.5 screen assists in the last 2. Olynyk is averaging 5.7 assists in 13 games since the break, 2nd most by a Raptor.
- Kelly Olynyk is one of three Raptors to play in every game for the Raptors since the trade deadline, joining Gradey Dick & Ochai Agbaji. Olynyk is averaging 11.9 points, 4.9 rebounds & 4.3 assists in 20 games with Toronto.
- Ochai Agbaji had 11 points, 5 rebounds & 1 assist in 31 minutes on Monday against the Nets, his 4th consecutive game in double-digit scoring. Agbaji has played at least 30 minutes in 6 straight games for the first time in his career.
- Gradey Dick has played 476.6 minutes in 17 games since the All-Star break, leading the team. He ranks 4th in total minutes amongst all rookies since the All-Star break.
- Gary Trent Jr. had 18 points, 2 rebounds & 2 assists in 30 minutes on Monday against the Nets, his 9th consecutive game with at least 15 points. Trent Jr. is averaging 22.1 points, 4.0 rebounds & shooting 38.3% from three in his last 9 games.
- Gary Trent Jr. is attempting 17.6 FGA over his last 10 games, the most he’s taken over a 10-game span this season.
- Gary Trent Jr. hit his 579th & 580th three as a Raptor on Monday against the Nets, passing Andrea Bargnani for 6th most in Raptors franchise history. He’s made 42 of 580 threes in 14 games since the All-Star break.
- Toronto is averaging 20.8 fastbreak points since March 1st, leading the NBA. 20.0% of their points are coming on the break, the largest rate of any team in that span.
- Toronto has 112.2 offensive rating this season, 24th in the NBA. Toronto is on pace to finish with a bottom-10 offensive rating for the first time since the 2011-12 season. They’re currently 24th in defensive rating, on pace to finish ranked bottom-10 for the first time since the 2014-15 season.
- RJ Barrett is listed out due to return to competition conditioning tonight. Barrett is averaging 20.8 points, 6.2 rebounds & 4.0 assists in 27 games with the Raptors this season. He’s missed the last 7 games.
- Immanuel Quickley is listed out due to return to competition conditioning tonight. Quickley averaged 20.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, 8.0 assists & shot 38.5% from three in 12 games after the All-Star break.
NYK: 43-28 record, 4th in the East
24-13 at home. 19-15 on the road. 116.5 offensive rating (12th), 111.8 defensive rating (7th), 4.6 net rating (6th).
- New York is playing the first game of a 2-game road trip tonight in Toronto & will wrap up their trip on Friday in San Antonio. Knicks have 11 games remaining this season – 7 on the road, 4 at home. 6 of their 11 games are against teams with a losing record. Knicks are 25-2 against teams below .500 this season.
- New York is 26-13 since January 1st, the 4th best record in the NBA. They won 12 of their first 14 games of 2024, before OG Anunoby (elbow) & Julius Randle (shoulder) left the lineup to injuries. They lost 8 of their next 14 games up until the end of February but have won 8 of 11 in March. Knicks have played 22 of their last 25 games without both of Randle & Anunoby.
- Knicks are a half-game back of the Cavs for 3rd in the East & have a 1-game lead over the Magic for 4th. The 3rd through 8th seeds in the East have between 28 & 33 losses & are separated by 5 games.
- New York is 25-2 against teams under .500 this season, with their only losses coming against the Jazz & the Hawks.
- On December 29th, New York & Toronto ranked 15th & 16th in defensive rating. Since then, New York is holding opponents to a 109.4 points per 100 possessions, the 2nd best defensive rating in the NBA. Toronto has slid, allowing 118.9 points per 100 in that span – 29th in the NBA.
- OG Anunoby has only played 17 games with New York this season, averaging 14.5 points, 4.9 rebounds & 1.7 steals in those games. Anunoby played in 14 consecutive games to start his Knicks tenure but missed his next 18 games due to bone spurs. He underwent surgery in early February & returned to the lineup on March 12th, but only played 3 more games before he experienced a post-surgical flare up. Since acquiring Anunoby, New York is 15-2 with him in the lineup & 9-10 with him out.
- Knicks defeated the Pistons by 25 points on Monday & have now won 6 of their last 7 games. Knicks made 19 threes, their most in a game since November 8th.
- Jalen Brunson had 28 points, 6 assists & was a team-high +37 in 30 minutes on Monday against the Pistons. Brunson is averaging 28.6 points, 6.1 assists & shooting 38.0% from three over his last 9 games. He’s led the Knicks in scoring in 7 of the last 9 games.
- Donte DiVincenzo had a career-high 40 points & made a Knicks franchise-record 11 threes on Monday against Detroit. DiVincenzo is averaging 35.5 points & 7.5 threes in his last 2 games & has led the Knicks in scoring in back-to-back games.
- Josh Hart had 11 points, 14 rebounds & 10 assists on Monday, his 6th triple-double of the season. Hart has recorded 4 of his 6 triple-doubles in 16 games since the All-Star break. He’s recorded the 5th most triple-doubles in the NBA this season.
- Josh Hart is averaging 12.9 points, 11.8 rebounds & 5.7 assists in 42.3 minutes in 16 games since the All-Star break, leading the NBA in minutes.
- Miles McBride signed a 3-year, $13 million contract extension with New York on December 30th, following the deal for OG Anunoby. He’s been the only Knicks player to play in every game since then & is averaging 9.9 points & 1.9 assists in 40 games since. McBride is averaging 19.8 points, 2.8 rebounds & 3.9 assists in 45.5 minutes over his last 4 games, shooting 42.4% from three. He’s scored at least 25 points in 2 of his last 4.
- Precious Achiuwa is averaging 10.0 points, 9.0 rebounds & 31.4 minutes in 28 games since his last meeting against the Raptors. On January 20th, Achiuwa had 18 points, 11 rebounds & a block in 25 minutes, the most minutes he’d played as a Knick at that point.
- Precious Achiuwa started 18 games for New York averaging 12.5 points, 9.5 rebounds & 1.8 blocks in those games. Achiuwa averaged 36.5 minutes as a starter for New York & is only averaging 20.7 minutes in his last 7 games off the bench.
- Mitchell Robinson will be available tonight for the first time since December 8th. Robinson suffered a stress fracture in his left ankle on December 8th against Boston & underwent surgery in later that week. He’s missed the last 50 games. Robinson averaged 6.2 points, 10.3 rebounds, 1.5 steals & 1.3 blocks in 29.2 minutes in 21 games to start the season. At the time of his injury, Mitchell Robinson was leading the NBA with 5.3 offensive rebounds. He led the Knicks in rebounds, offensive rebounds, blocks & steals prior to his injury.
- Knicks are 3rd in halfcourt defence & 7th in transition defence since January 1st.
- Knicks are holding opponents to 11.8 fast break points & 43.1 points in the paint post All-Star, ranked 4th & 2nd respectively.
- Donte DiVincenzo is leading the NBA with 4.4 deflections in March.