Kyle Lowry, Lou Williams push Raptors by Knicks
The Toronto Raptors shot 42-86 (48.8%) from the field and dominated the offensive glass, pulling down 16 boards, to beat the New York Knicks, 118-108. Toronto (22-6) has now won six in a row, dating back to a 106-94 victory over the Indiana Pacers on December 12th.
Lou Williams came off the bench and scored 22 points on 6-14 shooting from the field (4-10 from behind the arc) and 6-6 from the free throw line. Toronto also got solid performances from Kyle Lowry with 22 points and nine assists, and James Johnson with 10 points and six rebounds. Carmelo Anthony had another strong performance for New York in the loss, scoring 28 points on 12-26 shooting (1-4 on 3-point attempts), in addition to going 3-5 from the free throw line. Cole Aldrich added 11 points and seven rebounds.
As expected, the high-octane offense of Toronto (ranked second in the NBA in offensive efficiency) picked apart the porous defense of New York (ranked 27th in defensive efficiency), putting up 1.24 points per possession. The Raptors combined an eFG% of 57.0% with 42.4% 3-point shooting. They are undefeated (7-0) this year when registering marks above 55% and 40% in those respective statistics. The Knicks, on the other hand, are winless (0-7) when allowing opponents to hit those marks.
New York (5-25) has now dropped their last five consecutive games.
Coming up, the Raptors play the Chicago Bulls, who are 17-9 on the season. The Knicks match up against the Washington Wizards, currently sitting at 19-6 this year. The Raptors have a 0-1 record against Chicago this season. The Knicks have a 0-1 record against Washington this season.
