The Knicks are building something at home.
A real advantage.
A fortress.
With Sunday night’s win over the Raptors (116-94), the Knicks (13-6) improved to 10-1 at MSG – the second-best home record in the NBA, behind only the juggernaut Thunder.
It seems like a big improvement from last season, when the Knicks were just 27-14 at the Garden.
This season they are just destroying the visitors.
And Sunday was the last wind.
The Knicks led for the final 46 and a half minutes, with a balanced scoring attack led by Karl-Anthony Towns’ 22 points.
Six of their players scored at least 13 points.
Josh Hart continued his hot streak by adding to the box score, finishing with 20 points, 12 rebounds and 7 assists.
He also led the team with 5 offensive boards.
Jalen Brunson shot just 6-for-19, but he also caught the attention of the defense and the Knicks didn’t need a top performance from the star.
Despite the lopsided result, there were a few perilous moments in the third quarter.
Immanuel Quickley, the former Knick, came away with 13 of his 19 points in the period, including a trey that ended with a celebration MSG fans might remember: the gallop down the sideline.
Toronto then reduced the deficit to 3.
But the Knicks responded with a 12-0 run to take control.
Hart, the squad’s spiritual leader, led the charge with 13 points in the third quarter.
The Raptors never recovered.
It was, in some ways, a win over the schedule for the Knicks.
The Raptors (14-7) are much better than most expected, riding the resurgence of Brandon Ingram to first place in the division before Sunday.
But they were also on the second night of a back-to-back after traveling from Charlotte on Saturday night.
Perhaps not coincidentally, the visitors came out slowly.
The Knicks came out firing, especially Miles McBride, who had 12 points in the first five minutes.
They built a 24-point lead early in the second quarter, giving the appearance of a blow for the home team.
But the offense went cold with the reserves on the field in Jordan Clarkson and Tyler Kolek.
The Knicks’ advantage dropped to 7 points at halftime.
In the third quarter it dropped to 3.
Then the Knicks exploded for another home victory.
The Raptors played without RJ Barrett, who was out with a sprained knee.
The Knicks were once again without OG Anunoby, who strained his hamstring two weeks earlier.
Despite their absence, both sides – the Raptors and Knicks – probably felt pretty good about their trade about two years ago.
Quickley and Barrett, the Knicks’ two former first-round selections, play a big role in Toronto’s early rise this season and shocking 14-6 record heading into Sunday’s showdown at MSG.
Quickley earned the starting spot, entering Sunday averaging 15.8 points, a team-high 6.3 assists and just 1.7 turnovers.
Barrett, who suffered a knee sprain on Sunday, is the starting two-guard and is averaging 19.4 points on 50.6 percent shooting.
“Those two guys, we obviously have them, they were 23, 24 at the time,” Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic said. “They have grown tremendously since then.”
Things didn’t look great for the Raptors last season.
They entered the draft lottery for the second time in a row, with both Quickley and Barrett asked as winning pieces.
The Raptors team president who executed the trade, Masai Ujiri, was fired in June.
But Ujiri’s vision is easier to see this season, with the important caveat that it’s still very early.
Quickley, Barrett, Scottie Barnes and, most importantly, Brandon Ingram all shine.
They present an unexpected hurdle for the Knicks to overcome both within their division.
And on Sunday it was pretty easy.
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