Julius Randle on Saturday carried the offense, scoring 31 points and grabbing 10 rebounds as the New York Knicks won their ninth NBA straight game by routing the Toronto Raptors 120-103.
The Knicks are in the midst of their longest winning streak in eight years, since they won 13 straight in the 2012-13 NBA season.
R.J. Barrett scored 20 of his 25 points in the second half and had 12 rebounds and Derrick Rose chipped in with 19 points for the Knicks, who also won their seventh consecutive home game.
Photo: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports
“We’re peaking, but we can still get a lot better,” Randle said. “Obviously offensively we’re playing well, but defensively for a full 48 minutes I feel like we can be a lot better.”
New York shot 56 percent from the floor and made 16 shots from beyond the arc in front of the COVID-19-pandemic-limited crowd of 1,900 at Madison Square Garden.
The Knicks improved to 34-27 on the season and are six and a half games behind the first place Brooklyn Nets in the Eastern Conference. The 12th place Raptors dropped to 25-35.
Fred VanVleet and OG Anunoby scored 27 apiece for Toronto, who saw a four-game winning streak halted. Pascal Siakam poured in 26 points, and VanVleet added 11 assists for the Raptors, who shot 43.4 percent from the floor.
In other games on Saturday, it was:
‧ Bucks 132, 76ers 94
‧ Pacers 115, Pistons 109
‧ Spurs 110, Pelicans 108
‧ Heat 106, Bulls 101
‧ Mavericks 108, Lakers 93
‧ Timberwolves 101, Jazz 96
‧ Nuggets 129, Rockets 116
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