Raptors Takeaways: Larger goal still within reach despite loss to Knicks

The first thing that came to mind when the Toronto Raptors took the floor against the New York Knicks in Madison Square Garden was: how about no one gets hurt? 

It made sense that the Raptors didn’t play Immanuel Quickley on Friday night. He toughed out two games on his injured right foot against Miami this week, but he was on a minutes restriction and still looked to be in some discomfort after the games. Sitting him out on the second night of a back-to-back only made sense. 

And Collin Murray-Boyles sitting out with a sprained neck? He was in discomfort during the win over the Heat on Thursday – he had tape across his shoulder and had a heat pad on his neck during moments on the bench – so it’s not hard to imagine that stiffening up overnight. 

As for RJ Barrett being a late scratch to manage his left knee? That tracks, actually. 

Barrett’s right knee requires regular attention. He’s proven durable over his career, but periodic swelling in that knee is not uncommon. 

All of which to say is I don’t think the Raptors were trying to be cute with their lineup against the Knicks, who had all their regulars available save Mitch Robinson and Miles McBride. 

But the outcome was predictable as the Raptors fell 112-95 to New York, which improved to 5-0 against the Raptors as the two teams also met in the quarterfinals of NBA Cup play. 

The Raptors have now lost to the Knicks 13 straight times and lost all five games against them this season by double figures. 

If the current seeding holds up (more on that below) and the Raptors, as the sixth seed, meet the third-seeded Knicks, there is a scenario in which the Raptors could lose to New York nine straight times in a single season, which would have to be a record. 

It’s worth questioning why the Raptors played any of their key performers at all, given they could still control their destiny with a loss to New York and a win over Brooklyn Sunday.

Even healthy versions of the Raptors have been manhandled by the Knicks. Toronto struggles with New York's size on the glass and its ability to spread the floor with shooters at nearly every position. And when all else fails, the Raptors – like almost every other team in the NBA – can’t seem to stop six-foot-one point guard Jalen Brunson, regardless of who is covering him or what the scheme is. He led all scorers with 29. The Raptors got 17 from Sandro Mamukelashvili. 

After a spirited first quarter, the Knicks used a 10-0 run to start the second to push their lead to double figures and kept pushing to take a 51-36 lead into halftime as the short-handed Raptors shot just 42 per cent from the floor, made eight turnovers and shot 4-of-10 from the free throw line.

A game that seemed hard to win before it started seemed nearly impossible at that point. 

So the question became: was it worth risking Brandon Ingram rolling an ankle or Scottie Barnes jamming his knee? Or Jakob Poeltl tweaking his back, which cost him 36 games this season?

That their two all-stars have combined to play 155 of a possible 162 games has been a major reason for the Raptors' success, and the Raptors need Poeltl healthy to have any chance, regardless of who they play in the playoffs. 

Having any of those guys spend any more time around the violent moose that is Knicks big man Karl-Anthony Towns than absolutely necessary seems unwise. 

In the end, the worst did not come to pass. Everyone seemed to come out of the game intact, which is all that really matters. 

The loss dropped the Raptors' record to 45-36, and with the Atlanta Hawks' win over the Cleveland Cavaliers, bumped Toronto back to sixth place in the East, with all teams having played 81 games and all 30 teams finishing off the schedule on Sunday. 

Meanwhile, the Knicks are locked into the third seed and the Cavs in fourth. 

Thanks to their wins over Miami on Tuesday and Thursday, the Raptors' task – regardless of the outcome against the Knicks – is to win against Brooklyn at home on Sunday. 

Given that the Nets will be doing everything humanly possible to not win their 21^st game on Sunday and thus move out of the preferred bottom three positions for the draft lottery, there is no reasonable circumstance in which the Raptors should lose.

Whether they finish as the fifth or sixth seed will depend on the outcome of the Hawks-Heat game on Sunday. 

If the Hawks win, they’ll have 47 wins and would be the fifth seed with the Raptors – presuming the win over Brooklyn – in the sixth spot. 

But if the Hawks lose and the Raptors win, the Raptors will earn the fifth seed as they won the season series over Atlanta. 

Barring something catastrophic, the Raptors will clinch a playoff spot Sunday, that’s to be sure. 

That was perhaps the blue sky goal coming out of training camp, but certainly not a guarantee. 

It’s something of which this team should be justifiably proud. 

And having the time off – the playoffs wouldn’t start until next Saturday at the earliest – could be really helpful. It should give Quickley time to heal up that much more, and perhaps just as importantly, give Barnes time to gas up. 

He was eighth in minutes heading into last night’s game and at a new career-high with 2,649. He finished with 15 points, four rebounds and five assists against the Knicks – all below his season marks – and was averaging just 12.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 7.2 assists in his six previous games. The bump in assists coming because he was filling in for Quickley at point guard. 

The Raptors will need him at his best if they’re going to be a factor in the playoffs, whoever they play. 

Three-point Grange:

15^th roster spot drama

No matter what happens over the weekend, the way the Raptors have handled their two-way spots this season has been hard to figure out, to say the least. As had been expected, the Raptors waived Tyreke Key on Friday. He was only on the roster for three days, and there were no plans to use him in meaningful minutes or have him on the playoff roster. It was simply a kind gesture to recognize a player who had been a reliable figure in their G-League program the past two seasons. Three days at the prorated NBA minimum for a rookie player is worth about $22,000, which is not a bad little bonus for someone on a standard G-League contract, which paid $45,000 this past season. But in rewarding Key, the Raptors pushed the decision on which of their active two-way players they’ll convert (Chuck Hepburn is still recovering from knee surgery) down the road even further. According to multiple sources, the Raptors initially planned to convert one of Alijah Martin or AJ Lawson in mid-March when their salary cap position would allow it. But they veered from the plan – first to sign Markelle Fultz on a 10-day and now Key. 

So what now? 

As of Friday afternoon, there was no clarity on which of Lawson or Martin would have their two-way contracts converted to a standard NBA deal, a move required for either of them to be eligible for the post-season roster. The financial benefits are minimal, as either player would just get two days (if the conversion were Saturday, one day if it’s Sunday) at the NBA minimum. The deal would likely be for a couple of years at the minimum and would likely include a series of rolling guarantees which give the team all the control. The players only get paid when they’re on the roster at the end of training camp, and would have a series of team options hanging over them as the season progressed. It might be more amenable for Martin, who is just wrapping up his first year as a professional as a second-round pick. Regardless, if the Raptors extend Martin a qualifying offer, they would be able to control his rights next season on a lightly guaranteed deal. As a fourth-year pro, Lawson is in his last year of eligibility for a two-way contract. The question he’ll have to consider is whether another contract with a series of rolling guarantees that would prevent him from exploring opportunities with other NBA teams in the off-season would be the right decision, or if it's time for the 25-year-old from Toronto to pursue a chance with another organization. Both Martin and Lawson got minutes against New York. Lawson was 1-of-5 with six rebounds in 22 minutes, while Martin was 1-of-5 with two assists in 12 minutes. 

Steady Shead: For all the talk about load management and tanking and the rest, the Raptors have some guys who have been soldiers all season. I mentioned Barnes and Ingram, but Jamal Shead has a chance to be the first Raptors player since Jakob Poeltl in 2017-18 and just the 17^th player in franchise history to play all 82 games. Given the way he fights over screens and stands in on charges and the rest, he deserves credit for that.