Knicks cooked like Canadian bacon in rout
RAPTORS 113 KNICKS 88
TORONTO — This hopeless season carried on for the Knicks without Kristaps Porzingis, but the result was same old, same old in “O Canada.”
With Tim Hardaway Jr. mired in a perplexing shooting slump, the Raptors rolled to their fifth straight win over the Knicks on Thursday at Air Canada Centre, routing the depleted club 113-88.
Michael Beasley, replacing Porzingis at starting power forward, scored 21 points in the defeat but Hardaway went 4-of-14 for nine points. That puts him at 13-of-60 in his past five outings — all Knicks losses. Before the game, Hardaway said if fans are rooting for the team to tank, they’re “rooting for the wrong team.”
“It’s not on my mind right now — I’m just trying to focus on basketball and do every little thing,” Hardaway said. “I know it’s [a] struggle right now. I’m not going to harp on it.”
“It’s probably just pressing,” Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek said.
With Porzingis out for the season and beyond with a torn ACL and starting center Enes Kanter out after minor oral surgery, the Knicks were depleted up-front. Kyle O’Quinn, who drew only mild interest at Thursday’s trade deadline, started at center.
During the game, the Knicks made official the trade for Emmanuel Mudiay, who should join the club in time to debut Sunday in Indiana. It’s a good thing, as rookie point guard Frank Ntlikina, still experiencing quadriceps tendinitis, showed why the trade was made. He committed five turnovers and scored five points on 2-of-6 shooting in 20 minutes as appears to have hit the rookie wall.
Vanderbilt’s Luke Kornet and Isaiah Hicks, both on twoway G-League contracts, made their career debuts, and Kornet’s was a blast.
A new-age, perimeter-shooting center, Kornet drained his first attempt — a corner 3 — and finished with 11 points on 4-of-9 shooting. He added 10 rebounds for the double-double and four blocks. Hicks chipped in with five points on 2-of-5 from the field.
“We wanted to see what these new guys do in these games,” Hornacek said. “We know Luke would get some time. We like what he does. He can shoot the 3, go to the basket and block some shots. He’s going to get better and better as he plays against these better guys. Pretty happy the way he played.”