Miles McBride and the New York Knicks started Wednesday night’s road game versus the Toronto Raptors like a house on fire. Right from the get-go, it was clear that the Raptors had no chance against the red-hot Knicks, who dropped 45 points in the first quarter.
New York Knicks Torch Raptors Defense in Explosive 1st Quarter
The Raptors tried to trade blows with the Knicks in the opening quarter, with Toronto scoring 33 points, but New York simply had the bigger guns. The first-quarter points Toronto surrendered to the Knicks Wednesday night were also the most ever at home in franchise history.
Via Sportsnet Stats:
Raptors 45 points allowed matches a franchise-record in a 1st quarter, but is the most they’ve allowed in a home game. Toronto surrendered 45 in the 1st Q on March 25, 2011 at Golden State.
Even for the Raptors who are already just 24th in the league with 118.1 points allowed per game, that defensive performance in the first quarter was embarrassing, to say the least. McBride poured in 18 points in the first 12 minutes of the contest before finishing with a total of 29 in the game.
As usual, Jalen Brunson produced ample offense for the Knicks, as the former Villanova Wildcats star dropped 26 points to go with seven assists and four rebounds.
The win over the Raptors was also a great welcome for Mitchell Robinson, who played in his first game since December after missing 50 games due to a foot injury.
Sitting in the third spot in the Eastern Conference standings, the 44-28 Knicks will get back to work on Friday with a road game versus the San Antonio Spurs.
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