On the same day news broke that the Bucks were fielding offers for Giannis Antetokounmpo, the short-handed Knicks pulled off an impressive 119-92 comeback victory Wednesday over the Raptors.
The heroes were the wings, Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby, who combined for 56 points and keyed the third-quarter turnaround that extended New York’s winning streak to four games.
WingStop compensated for a sickly off night from Jalen Brunson, who was battling an illness and managed just 13 points and sat for most of the second half.
Karl-Anthony Towns was also ineffective offensively (just eight points) but provided the highlight of the evening — a nifty over-the-shoulder pass to Bridges during that game-breaking third-quarter run.
Towns sprinted to the hoop from the trail position, just in time to grab an offensive rebound — the 19th of his season-high 22 boards — and shovel his no-look assist to a streaking Bridges while falling out of bounds.
It gave the Knicks a nine-point lead, which expanded to 27 by the final buzzer.
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The Knicks (29-18) improved to 3-0 against the Raptors (29-20) this season. They trailed by as many as 12 in the first half and won the second 72-41. They killed the Raptors’ spirit with a 13-0 run to end the third quarter, perhaps their best stretch since New Year’s Eve.
Bridges scored 19 of his 30 points in the third quarter, shooting 12-for-15 overall. It was his best game in a long time.
The result had implications on the standings. The teams entered Wednesday in a virtual tie for third in the East, behind the Pistons and Celtics. The Knicks are now a full game ahead.
Mike Brown said it didn’t matter, not in January.
“I haven’t looked at it recently but I know we’re right there. There’s still a lot of basketball left,” the coach said. “Every game is important. Try to go get it. But it’s not the end of the world because there’s a long season left. If we win, it doesn’t necessarily mean we’re going to finish ahead of them. If they win, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re going to finish ahead of us.”
Still, it was an impressive finish given the circumstances. The Knicks were short-handed and visibly exhausted in the first half after playing Tuesday night and flying from New York to Toronto. Miles McBride and Mitchell Robinson were load managing and unavailable. Josh Hart, who finished with 22 points and six assists, was dealing with a sore ankle.
The team was also enduring trade rumors following the news about the availability of Antetokounmpo, who is a Knicks target and will require a haul in return.
At least for one night, it was easier to forget about the Greek Freak.
“I’ve got no control over it. You know how rumors fly left and right every day,” Brown said. “Now what I do generally talk about is ignoring the noise. Not just during ‘this trade time’ but throughout the course of the year, you’ve got to have a bunker mentality.
“There’s a lot of noise out there, whether you’re in New York, there was noise in Sacramento, there was noise in Golden State. There’s noise all over where we’ve been and that term, bunker mentality, [Gregg Popovich] first brought it to me when I was with the Spurs and so that’s something that you mention.”
