When taking a look around the NBA for nightly scores, one team continues to pop out as being dominant; the New York Knicks. They are not a team anyone wants to be matched up with in a playoff series, as they are hitting their stride near the end of the season and getting healthier.
Known for their defensive prowess, the Knicks showed that they can score the basketball too on Wednesday night against the Toronto Raptors. New York went on the road and dismantled the under-manned Toronto squad, winning 145-101.
The 44-point victory is the largest for New York this season. It is also the largest defeat the Raptors have ever been handed on their home court. The previous high was 41 points courtesy of the New Orleans Pelicans on March 5th this season.
NBA NEWS & SCORES: Donte DiVincenzo, Mile McBride, Toronto Raptors New York Knicks Updates
Their 145 points scored also mark a season-high amount. It is also the most amount of points they have scored in a regulation game since November of 1980, as they got whatever they wanted on the offensive side of the ball.
The Knicks haven’t been messing around with their food recently, handling business against teams they are supposed to beat without breaking much of a sweat. Wednesday night was their 13th wire-to-wire victory of the season, which is the most in the NBA.
New York came out of the gates on fire shooting the ball and never cooled down. Miles McBride led the way with a career-high tying 29 points, as he knocked down six 3-pointers in the opening frame. That tied a Knicks’ franchise record for 3-pointers in a quarter, joining Quentin Richardson and John Starks.
It looked like he was going to challenge the single-game 3-point record that Donte DiVincenzo set on Monday night against the Detroit Pistons. But, McBride cooled off after the first quarter, making “only” nine in the game.
That 3-point barrage contributed to New York scoring a season-high 80 points in the first half of the game. It was the sixth time this season that the Knicks reached the 70-point plateau in a half and the fourth time it has been in a first half.
NBA NEWS & SCORES: Donte DiVincenzo, Mile McBride, Toronto Raptors New York Knicks Updates
Six different Knicks scored in double-figures as the team shot 58.5 percent from the field and 50 percent on 3-pointers. The ball was moving freely as New York racked up a season-high 37 assists, as Jalen Brunson, McBride and Josh Hart all had at least seven.
The entire team, even the players who only checked in for garbage time, finished the game with even or positive plus/minus ratios as well. It was a thorough beatdown by the Knicks, who moved into third place in the Eastern Conference with a win. Only two games behind the Milwaukee Bucks for second place, a chunk of the NBA Playoffs could go through Madison Square Garden if they keep playing well.
