NBA: 132 points!

Even the New York Knicks can’t stop the Toronto Raptors from flying high and they’re taking a massive beating at home in Madison Square Garden. Now the Minnesota Timberwolves are playing against the Golden State Warriors (go to LIVESTREAM here).

The Knicks didn’t receive the hot Raptors with too big ambitions – New York had already given up six games in a row before and with Enes Kanter, one of the most important remaining players signed off on short notice. Measured against this, the hosts even sold quite well for a long time and at least maintained the distance to the Raptors for a long time. However, there were still no major doubts about their eighth consecutive victory.

Because Toronto played it too ripped off. DeMar DeRozan had individual problems with Frank Ntilikina’s strong defence (9 points, 4/16 FG), but all the others around him took advantage of the leeway – and the bankers made a big difference again, even in the third quarter, when Toronto dropped out for the first time. Kyle O’ Quinn had brought New York to 7 points again, but the Raptors promptly responded with an 11-2 run, leading 16 points ahead of the last quarter.

They did not let themselves be taken away from that – on the contrary. In the last quarter, they expanded their lead to 24 points within a few minutes and, of course, the trade fair was read after that – the final phase thus mutated early into garbage time. The good performances of Tim Hardaway (25 points) and Luke Kornet (18) didn’t change anything.

The Raptors once again impressed with their depth. A proud seven players scored double-digit points, plus two more to exactly 9. Jonas Valanciunas was top scorer on this day with 17 points and 9 rebounds, also his backup Jakob Pöltl made a really strong game: The Austrian came in 20:55 minutes to 10 points (5/8 FG), 8 rebounds and 3 assists. In the end, it was even the highest number of points for New York this season. Kyle Lowry and DeRozan watched the entire final quarter from the bank.