Game thread: New York Knicks vs Toronto Raptors 7:30 2/9/2019 [Game #55]

rady

Administrator
Staff member

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(40-16) -- (10-43)

VenueTVTIME
Madison Square Garden, New York, NYMSG7:30 PM EST



Probable starters:


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Injury Report

Toronto RaptorsNew York Knicks
Kawhi Leonard - Sore left knee (TBD)Emmanuel Mudiay - Strained left shoulder (OUT)
-Frank Ntilikina - Sore groin (OUT)
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Game Preview

The Toronto Raptors and New York Knicks were both busy at the NBA trade deadline, albeit with entirely different goals in mind.

Both teams might move closer to their objectives Saturday night, when the free-falling Knicks host the Raptors at Madison Square Garden.

The Knicks closed in on matching an ignoble record Friday night, when they absorbed their 15th consecutive defeat in falling to the host Detroit Pistons, 120-103. The Raptors earned their third straight win Thursday when they beat the Hawks in Atlanta, 119-101.

If the Knicks, who have also lost 23 of their past 24 and 28 of their past 30 to fall to an NBA-worst 10-44, lose to the Raptors on Saturday, they would match the longest losing streak in franchise history. The 2014-15 team dropped 16 straight on its way to finishing 17-65, the worst record in New York's 72 NBA seasons.

New York, which also has lost 15 straight home games, fully committed to the tank on Feb. 1 by trading Kristaps Porzingis to the Dallas Mavericks in a six-player blockbuster. The 7-foot-3 power forward once appeared ready to become the Knicks' franchise player.

The trade positioned the Knicks to continue vying for one of the three worst records in the league -- and a 14 percent chance at winning the draft lottery and the chance to pick Duke freshman Zion Williamson. New York also heads into the summer with enough cap room to pursue two top free agents.

The Knicks could improve in a hurry if all goes according to plan. Until then, though, there are some bleak days and nights ahead.

"Everyone's situation is different," first-year Knicks head coach David Fizdale said Thursday, shortly after the team waived two more veterans, Enes Kanter and Wesley Matthews. "It just so happens that our situation is calling for building through the draft and free agency."

The Raptors' situation is much different.

Toronto, which has finished first or second in the Atlantic Division in each of the last five years but has gotten to the Eastern Conference finals just once, signaled it was going all-in on the pursuit of the first championship in team history by acquiring center Marc Gasol from the Grizzlies on Thursday.

The Raptors sent center Jonas Valanciunas, guard Delon Wright, guard/forward C.J. Miles and a 2024 second-round draft pick to Memphis.

The trade allowed the Raptors, who have the second-best record in the Eastern Conference behind Milwaukee, to keep pace with the Bucks as well as the Philadelphia 76ers, each of whom also made blockbuster deals in hopes of ending decades-long championship droughts.

Milwaukee, which won its lone NBA title in 1971, acquired Nikola Mirotic from the New Orleans Pelicans. Philadelphia, which hasn't won it all since 1983, obtained Tobias Harris from the Los Angeles Clippers.

Gasol, who played in 59 postseason games for the Grizzlies and helped them get to the 2013 Western Conference finals, should provide the Raptors with a steady hand once the playoffs arrive.

"Marc brings significant playoff experience to our team, which along with his savviness and leadership skills really helps position us for our ultimate postseason goal," Raptors president Masai Ujiri said.

Assuming Gasol makes his Raptors debut Saturday, he will be playing for the first time since last Sunday. He sat out Memphis' Tuesday game for rest amid the trade rumors.

Gasol, 34, is averaging 15.7 points, 8.6 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game this season.

--Field Level Media

(STATS / cbssports.com)
 
Thanks again, Rady.

15 game losing streak and counting. Predicting a letdown offensive game for DSJ simply because he has to probably still be gassed after last night. Hoping to see more minutes for MRob. Keep waiting for Knox to start looking like he is figuring some things out.

Phoenix is in the midsts of a long losing streak and continues to lead the NBA in losses. We?re tied for 2nd most with Cleveland. Chicago won last night and now has 2 less losses than us and Cleveland.

Even with the worst record, a team is statistically still most likely to have the 4th pick (slightly less than a 50% chance). Obvious #1 pick is Zion. Then there?s Ja Morant and R.J. Barrett. Maybe Cam Reddish projects at #4.

My question is, if we do miss out on Zion, who is this year?s ?sleeper? overseas prospect? This year?s KP or Doncic? I know Fizdale doesn?t mesh well with Euro players, but still.
 

tiger0330

Legend
Watched the Sixers-Nugs game yesterday and Doris Burke said she thought the Sixers had the best starting 5 in the league after adding Harris, even better than the 5 all-stars the Dubs have, the reason Cuz hasn't hit his stride yet. Quite a statement by Doris and I've always liked Tobias, I hope Perry makes the pitch to bring him home to NY, he seemed genuinely happy playing yesterday and he said he had a lot of fun after the game, doubt he has the kind of joy here with this roster so its going to be a hard sell if the Sixers offer him the max to come to NY.
 
Watched the Sixers-Nugs game yesterday and Doris Burke said she thought the Sixers had the best starting 5 in the league after adding Harris, even better than the 5 all-stars the Dubs have, the reason Cuz hasn't hit his stride yet. Quite a statement by Doris and I've always liked Tobias, I hope Perry makes the pitch to bring him home to NY, he seemed genuinely happy playing yesterday and he said he had a lot of fun after the game, doubt he has the kind of joy here with this roster so its going to be a hard sell if the Sixers offer him the max to come to NY.

I really disagree with Doris Burke. That seems like a fantasy argument, not a real world argument. GS has great parts and the sum of those parts is even greater, even with Cousins new to the fold. If the Finals is GS vs Philly, I don?t see it taking even 7 games for GS to win.
 
Hezonja into the starting lineup and Vonleh to the bench. Guessing we?ve seen what we needed from Vonleh and now Hezonja gets a 2nd chance as a starter to try to earn a contract for next season.
 

Kiyaman

Legend
Wsup Rady .... Thanks for the Knicks Game-Thread !!!
It looks like the EAST 2nd seeded (40-16) Raptors has a Goal (Feb. Dead-Line trading) to get to the ECF by adding star center Gasol to their rotation .
The Raptors star player Kawi looked to have taken the night-off playing the 10-44 record Knicks.
I wonder what players Fizdale will have in tonight rotation vs Raptors ???
 

tiger0330

Legend
DSJ going ape sh*t first 5 minutes. Euro step drive for a layup, alley oop passes, running the show. Knicks up 14-3.
 

Kiyaman

Legend
Yo Yo Yo .. DJ leadership got the Knicks on a 14-3 run to start the game .. I thought this game was gonna start off boring when our first FG was a 3-ball .. Dotson with 2 early fouls has to sit .. in come Trier
 

tiger0330

Legend
Gasol is playing, coming off the bench, first time since his rookie season he's coming off the bench. Raps lead after 1 25-23.
 

mafra

Legend
Dennis Smith Jr. is first player in franchise history with at least 60 points, 20 assists in first 3 games with Knicks.
 

Kiyaman

Legend
DJ has 10 pts & 11 rbs in 15 minute of the first half .. oh yeah picked up a tech for slaming the ball down at half-time
 
Trying to watch the game on MSG Go while at work. Missed most of it so far, but looks like better defensive effort tonight. DeAndre Jordan is only 30 years-old and could have several years left of playing at a high level.
 

Broadway

All Star
Knox another inefficient game, DSJ has caught his disease tonight too. Fiz needs to have a talk with Knox because if this was any other player we'd take issue with it.
 
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