Lowry hurt, but Lin shines as Raptors rout Knicks
TORONTO 128 NEW YORK 92
TORONTO — Before the Toronto Raptors tipped off against the New York Knicks on Monday, coach Nick Nurse was looking forward to finally having a healthy roster.
He figured it would all come together in the next couple of games.
A few hours later, the coach was eating those words after the Raptors lost all-star Kyle Lowry to an ankle injury — again — in their 128-92 rout of the Knicks.
“Maybe I shouldn’t have said that. Can we get a wood podium up here?” Nurse said at the post-game news conference.
Jeremy Lin scored 13 of his 20 points — his best game as a Raptor — in the fourth quarter, with the game well in hand, leading eight Toronto players in double figures.
But Lowry’s injury cast a pall on the night.
Lowry had just returned after missing two games with a left ankle injury, but he hurt his right ankle when New York’s Mitchell Robinson knocked him over from behind with 5:15 to play in the third. Lowry slapped the floor in pain before being helped up. The guard glared at New York’s bench before being helped to the locker-room.
Mitchell fouled out a couple of minutes later, after playing just 14 minutes.
“It’s pretty sore, it’s tender right now,” Lowry said after the game. “I watched the clip. I think it was a little bit dirty. He grabbed me and pulled me down but he’s a young kid . . . . I know he didn’t think he was going to hurt me, I think he was trying to stop the play.”
Pascal Siakam had 19 points, Lowry had 15 and eight assists, OG Anunoby had 14 points, Fred Van Vleet chipped in with 12, Marc Gasol had 12 points to go with 11 rebounds, and Norm Powell finished with 10 points for Toronto (50-21).
The Raptors were playing without star Kawhi Leonard, who sat out for load management as has become routine when the team plays on back-to-back nights.
Allonzo Trier had 22 points to top the Knicks (14-57).
Between injuries to key players, the arrival of Marc Gasol and Lin at the trade deadline, and Leonard’s load management, Nurse has used a revolving door of rosters. Monday night’s was his 20th different starting lineup of the season.