Toronto Raptors (52-23) @ New York Knicks (14-60)
When: Thursday, March 28, 7:30 P.M. ET
Where: Madison Square Garden
Leading into tonight’s game:
- Injury report: For the Raptors, Kawhi Leonard (load management) and Jordan Loyd (with Raptors 905) will be out. For the Knicks, Isaiah Hicks (G League team), Frank Ntilikina (sore groin), Allonzo Trier (strained left calf) and Noah Vonleh (sprained right ankle, bruised right foot) are listed as out. Kevin Knox (sprained right ankle) and Dennis Smith Jr, (sore lower back) are listed as questionable.
- On the road: Thursday’s game kicks off a two-game road trip that starts in New York against the Knicks and finishes in Chicago, where the Raptors will play the Bulls — for the second time this week — on Saturday before returning home to host the Orlando Magic on Monday. The Raptors have just two home games remaining on the regular-season schedule, split between the team's final two-game road trip coming up next week.
- Recent history: This is the final meeting between the Raptors and Knicks this season. Toronto is 3-0 in the season series, most recently earning a 128-92 victory against New York at Scotiabank Arena on March 18. It was a dominant win for the Raptors who took control early and didn't let go. The Raptors led by nine after one, 19 at the half and 32 after three, despite Kawhi Leonard sitting out the back-to-back and Kyle Lowry leaving the game in the third quarter after spraining his ankle. Jeremy Lin led the team with 20 points in the win while Fred VanVleet added 13 points and 12 assists and Pascal Siakam added 19 points. The Knicks were led by Allonzo Trier’s 22 points in the loss.
Extra Assists
- Adding to the squad: The Raptors announced on Tuesday that they have signed guard Jodie Meeks for the rest of the season. Meeks previously signed a 10-day contract with the team on Feb. 20. In two games played during his 10-day contract, he averaged 7.5 points and 2.0 rebounds in 12.0 minutes. Meeks has career averages of 9.3 points, 2.1 rebounds and 22.6 minutes over 533 games.
- Understand the grind: Norman Powell led the Raptors with 20 points in Tuesday’s win against the Bulls. In 26 minutes, he shot 8-for-10 from the floor, including 4-for-5 from beyond the three-point line. After going scoreless in a pair of games earlier this week, Powell has scored 30 points on 12-for-15 shooting from the floor and 6-for-7 from three in Toronto’s last two games.
- Bench mob: Toronto’s reserves came up big on Tuesday, scoring 61 of the team’s 112 points. While Norman Powell led the way with 20 points off the bench, Serge Ibaka added 16 points, eight rebounds and two blocks and OG Anunoby scored 10 points before leaving the game late after taking an accidental hit to the head. Though Anunoby did not return to the game, the team announced that he had passed the concussion protocol. Every Raptors player that entered the game scored.