Jalen Brunson’s late heroics help Knicks fend off pesky Raptors
TORONTO — Karl-Anthony Towns carried the torch for the first half before Josh Hart and Jalen Brunson saved the Knicks from a collapse in Canada.
Playing without injured OG Anunoby, the Knicks allowed their 23-point advantage dwindle to one with about three minutes remaining.
Then Josh Hart connected on consecutive layups — the first off a putback, the second in transition.
And Brunson, fresh off his clutch performance a night prior at MSG, sealed Tuesday’s 121-115 victory over the Raptors with a pair of buckets in the final 52 seconds.
The win was the seventh in eight games for the Knicks (34-17), who have three days off before Saturday’s marquee matchup against the Celtics.
Towns dropped 27 points with 20 rebounds — though he only had seven points and five boards in the second half.
Brunson finished with 28 points, including a trey with 25.8 seconds left that prompted a collective groan from the Toronto crowd. Hart added 15 points, six assists and seven rebounds.
There were some trappings of schedule loss.
The Knicks were playing on the second night of a back-to-back after a thrilling victory over the Rockets, a top-tier NBA opponent.
Their best defensive player, Anunoby, didn’t make the trip because of a foot sprain. Mikal Bridges, their iron man and minutes leader, appeared on the injury report for the first time this season with a sore ankle, the result of stepping awkwardly on a Rockets defender on Monday.
He still started at shooting guard, logging his 525th straight game while scoring 17 points in 41 minutes.
Although a disappointment this season, the Raptors had been playing well recently, with eight wins in their past 10 games.
But the Knicks showed no hangover symptoms in the first half, using a surge in the second quarter to take a 17-point lead at the break.
Without Anunoby, the Knicks again started Precious Achiuwa (17 points, eight rebounds, 36 minutes) but also turned to rookie Ariel Hukporti, who logged 19 minutes with six points and five rebounds.
Interestingly and successfully, Tom Thibodeau deployed Hukporti and Towns together for stretches in the first half — the first time Towns played alongside a traditional center for meaningful minutes this season.
It looked good and is perhaps a precursor to when, or if, Mitchell Robinson returns. Robinson and Hukporti have similar rim-running styles.
The Raptors, playing without former Knick RJ Barrett (concussion), cut the deficit to six with about seven minutes remaining, and nearly pulled off the comeback before the heroics from Hart and Brunson.
