Game Rap: Raptors 122, Knicks 95

Holly MacKenzie - Raptors.com

A Jonas Valanciunas free throw put the Raptors ahead by 20 midway through the third quarter. Toronto would go into the fourth ahead by 18 and score 36 in the final quarter to coast to an easy 122-95 victory. The 122 points were a season high and helped the Raptors move to 37-18 on the season.

After Toronto trailed by two at the end of the first quarter, the team got down to business in the second. The Raptors outscored the Knicks 31-15 in the quarter and closed the half on a 24-6 run to turn a five-point deficit into a 14-point lead. They wouldn’t trail again.

DeMar DeRozan moved past Chris Bosh and Morris Peterson to notch the most wins in a Raptors uniform. Monday’s win against the Knicks gave DeRozan 233 victories with the franchise. DeRozan scored 22 points against the Knicks, adding three rebounds, two assists and three steals in 32 minutes.

Kyle Lowry recorded his eighth career triple-double, scoring 22 points to go with 11 rebounds and 11 assists in 35 minutes. Lowry has a franchise-record six triple-doubles as a Raptor. He shot 7-for-13 from the floor, 2-for-4 from beyond the arc, a perfect 6-for-6 at the free throw line and turned the ball over just two times on Monday night.

Bismack Biyombo put in another strong performance off the bench, scoring 10 points and grabbing nine rebounds (five offensive) in 19 minutes. Biyombo was a perfect 4-for-4 from the floor and added an assist and a blocked shot.

“It’s really an exciting time for him. I’m so happy for him. It just shows the adversity he’s been through. When he first started here you would never have thought he would get this record, but now he’s got the record and he did it in less games than the other two.”- Kyle Lowry on DeMar DeRozan’s big night

26… Assists for the Raptors, just one night after the Raptors and Memphis Grizzlies combined for 25 assists.58… Points in the paint for Toronto, just 38 for the Knicks.7… Players in double figures for the Raptors, including three with 20 points: Lowry 22, DeRozan 22, Valanciunas 20.42… Bench points for the Raptors, compared to 27 for the Knicks. Cory Joseph led the way for the reserves once again, scoring 13 points to go with six assists.25… The Raptors have won 25 consecutive games when holding opponents under 100 points.13… Players with playing time in Monday's game as Dwane Casey played every player in uniform.

“It sounds good saying it, honestly. It’s an honour for me. I’ve been here, it felt like since the beginning. Just to have that, that’s big for me. I can't believe it. I really can’t believe it, but hey, it’s in the books now.”- DeMar DeRozan on getting the record for most wins in a Raptors uniform“It was more important for us to get the win as a team and definitely more important for DeMar to have set a record that will be there for a long time. It was just a good win. We have to continue to get better. Now we can get ready for Minnesota take it one game at a time and not worry about anything else.”- Kyle Lowry summing up a good team win that included a triple-double for himself and a record-setting night for DeMar DeRozan“When we gain big leads, we understand that they will fight back. We have to step it up another notch to keep that lead going and finish the game off strong. We were aggressive on both ends. We’re trying to be ultra-aggressive. We knew that if we got stops, we were going to push it. We were trying to get easy shots and everything was going for us.”- DeMar DeRozan on not letting up with the lead“My teammates let me know, I’ll tell you that much. They actually helped me, let me get the triple-double tonight. I thank them all. I appreciate them. It’s crazy how much these guys support me and I support them and we just support each other. It makes our jobs a lot easier when you have that friendship and camaraderie.”- Kyle Lowry on his teammates making sure he got the triple-double

The Raptors look to avenge their pre All-Star weekend loss in Minnesota when they face the Timberwolves at the Air Canada Centre on Wednesday at 7:30 P.M. ET.