Streaking Raptors ride strong defensive effort into clash vs. Knicks

The Toronto Raptors will strive to expand their winning streak to five games on Wednesday night when they return home to face the New York Knicks.

The Raptors finished a five-game road trip with a 4-1 record on Sunday with a 103-101 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

"I thought we did a lot of good stuff against a really, really good team," Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic said.

The Knicks have won both meetings with the Raptors this season, but the teams have not met since Dec. 9, when New York posted a 117-101 victory in Toronto.

While the Raptors have been improving, the Knicks have been inconsistent recently. New York endured a 2-9 stretch before it went on a three-game winning streak that includes a 103-87 home victory Tuesday over the Sacramento Kings.

The Raptors' win over the NBA defending champion Thunder on Sunday was one of their most impressive games of the season. Scottie Barnes made two outstanding defensive plays late and finished with 10 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists, three blocked shots and one steal. Especially impressive was his block on Chet Holmgren's shot with 28.6 seconds remaining.

Immanuel Quickley continued his recent surge, scoring eight points in the final 1:49. He finished with 23 points and 11 rebounds.

"The ball movement was big time; everybody chipped in," Quickley said.

Toronto turned in another good defensive effort. NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who is averaging 32 points per game for the Thunder, was limited to 24 points and six assists.

"This is a championship-level team, with so many talented players, so you have to pick your poison, what you will live with," Rajakovic said. "We really wanted to limit the touches that Shai got and make it really hard on him."

The Raptors again showed their poise late in a close game.

"You're going to have ups and downs, and what we're trying to do is always to find a way to be in the game in the fourth quarter and really to focus on our execution and to focus defensively on what we're doing," Rajakovic said. "Obviously, we don't go in a game and have the same game plan over the whole game. We're trying to make adjustments."

Meanwhile, New York outscored Sacramento 31-15 in the fourth quarter to secure Tuesday's victory. The Knicks made the task more difficult by committing 21 turnovers that led to 20 points by the Kings.

"It was an ugly game," said Jalen Brunson, who scored 28 points for New York. "It wasn't pretty, but we were able to grind it out and find a way to win, and I think that's very important for us."

Karl-Anthony Towns collected 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Knicks but was on the bench for the final 6:51.

"At the end of the game, we had a group out on the floor that was playing well," Knicks coach Mike Brown said. "This was a tight ballgame, so I just rode that group to the end of the game, which I've done before. We needed to get the win."

Said Towns: "We got the win. That's the most important thing. That's all I care about, New York cares about, this team cares about."