The Knicks entered Saturday’s Toronto matinee having lost five in a row north of the border and 15 of 18 overall to Les Raptors because the Raptors are better. Toronto won 128-112 today for very much the same reason. But these are not your common-law daddy’s Raptors, nor are they the same ol’ Knicks, and thus while the outcome was predictable, the journey there revealed a great many things.
Drama is phrasing; phrasing is misdirection. In that vein, the Knick defense began the night in impressive fashion, jumping the passing lanes early and often for steals. Toronto opened going nearly four-and-a-half minutes without a field goal.