Raptors 148, Knicks 98: Scenes from Kawhi’s return

Having played last night at home, coach Mike Brown rested his starters tonight in Toronto. His opening lineup included Jose Alvarado, Miles McBride, Bruce Brown, Mohamed Diawara, and James Wiseman. Across the aisle, Kawhi Leonard made his preseason debut as the team returned to Scotiabank Arena following a cross-country tour of showcase scrimmages. The Knicks lost to the Timberwolves yesterday, and they dropped another tonight, 148-98. No, Virginia, these games don’t count.

The starters weren’t required to attend, but Mikal Bridges did. Because he’s a savage!

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Both teams came out bricking, but the home team fixed their problems sooner, jumping out to a 13-4 lead that chased New York into a timeout. OAKAAKUYOAK RJ Barrett collected an early eight points in seven minutes to lead his team. For our heroes, James Wiseman blanked across the board in the first quarter, with two turnovers that cancelled a pair of rebounds. He played better (offensively, at least) in the second half, finishing the night with 18 points and 10 boards to lead the team.

Midway through the frame, Wiseman sat for Drew Eubanks, who didn’t wow us either, but at least got on the scoreboard. Pacome Dadiet checked in, too, and promptly suffered at the hands of Scottie Barnes—and then Barrett. Not great. (He also played better after intermission.) Seeing Diawara make his first three-pointer of the preseason made us happy, but ’twas a mere sip while we thirsted for decent basketball. The two Tylers (Kolek, Nickel) checked in with four minutes left in the quarter, and they did little to help. By the break, Barnes had shot 6-of-7 for 15 points, and the score stood at 42-22. The gulf felt much wider than that.

Twice in the first quarter, Mike Brown and Alvarado had extended conversations. They seemed to not be on the same page. To be fair, few Knicks were on the right page tonight.

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Toronto opened the second quarter with a 7–0 run, on a bucket from Quickley, a three from Kawhi Leonard, and a drive by Barrett. Tyler Nickel answered with a layup and a three, and Tony Bradley added two baskets inside, but the Knicks played defense…

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Publish date : 2026-10-14 01:48:00

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