Mikal Bridges, Knicks come alive in second half to beat Raptors, 119-92

The Knicks took control in the second half to rout the Toronto Raptors, 119-92, on Wednesday night.

Here are the key takeaways…

— On the second leg of a back-to-back, traveling from New York to Canada in the process, the Knicks did not start off so hot. They had three turnovers in their first five possessions and were 0-for-2 on the other two possessions, missing two three-pointers which would be a theme of the night.

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— With nothing happening offensively in the first four minutes and looking for a spark with his team down 14-5, head coach Mike Brown put in Tyler Kolek for Jalen Brunson and Kolek immediately responded with an assist on a three-ball by OG Anunoby. New York went on a mini 5-0 run after the move and with the help of its defense, mostly coming from the bench, it was able to get back into the game.

— Still, it was an ugly opening quarter by the Knicks who scored just 18 points on a paltry 6-for-20 from the field. They relied way too heavily on the deep threat, settling for tough shots and going 2-for-12 from beyond the arc. It was there where New York was missing Mitchell Robinson (ankle) and his offensive rebounding prowess, getting outrebounded in the quarter, 16-9.

— The Raptors weren’t much better (8-for-19 from the floor), but they were efficient from deep (3-for-5) and the free-throw line (9-for-10) to go into the second quarter with a 28-18 lead.

— The poor shooting by both teams continued in the second. Toronto missed its first seven shots of the quarter before hitting back-to-back threes and the Knicks began the frame 4-for-15. After the two made threes, the Raptors missed their next eight shots, but despite going 2-for-17 for eight minutes, their lead barely shrunk because of their ability to get to the line and knock down free throws.

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— Meanwhile, New York was dealing with its own terrible shooting and turnovers, too. At halftime the Knicks had 11 giveaways after a season-high 21 turnovers on Tuesday night. After all that, though, New York was still able to keep it within a reasonable margin and ended the half on a mini 5-0 run to cut the deficit to 51-47.

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/mikal-bridges-knicks-come-alive-031447230.html

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Publish date : 2026-01-29 03:14:00

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