The Raptors were swept in the four-game season-series with the Knicks, and they choked away yet another close game.
Brandon Ingram and the Toronto Raptors lost 111-95 against the New York Knicks Tuesday night in Scotiabank Arena. This defeat means that the Knicks swept the Raptors in the season series four to zero, and Toronto’s record against the top-10 teams in the NBA dropped to 1-16, outside of the pre-James Harden Cleveland Cavaliers.
The former Duke Blue Devil gave it his all despite the loss, contributing 31 points on 55% shooting. The problem with his impressive scoring effort is that 26 of his points came in the first half, and he totaled no stats at all on 0-for-2 shooting in the fourth quarter. In fact, the Raptors were down 95-93 when Ingram and Scottie Barnes entered the game with 5:26 left in the fourth quarter, and then the Knicks went on a 16-2 run to end the game.
Toronto Raptors forward Scottie Barnes (4) | © John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
While this may be an anomaly in terms of the lack of production from Toronto’s two All-Stars, another fourth-quarter blunder for the Raptors further proved that they are not on the level of the top teams in the league this year. They rank 29th in the NBA in fourth-quarter scoring with 25.6 points per game, which may be one of the worst statistics a team can have going into the playoffs.
Ingram expressed his frustration about the lack of consistent offensive direction in the fourth quarter when speaking with the media postgame.
“[The Knicks] made more shots than [the Raptors] down the stretch,” said Ingram. “I think when we look at the tape, we gotta figure out our fourth-quarter execution, [and figure out] what exactly we want to go to. I think every time we play a good team, they know exactly where they want to go to in the fourth quarter, and they do it over and over again. The good thing is we’re in the games, but we gotta figure out how to finish the game.”
Based on his defeated demeanor, it’s easy to tell that he and the Raptors are just as frustrated as the fans are over their consistent collapses at the end of games against great teams. While the Raptors rank 12th in the NBA in net rating at 1.7, the stat is easily overshadowed by their 20th-place ranking in the league in fourth-quarter net rating at -2.0.
When taking a closer look at the poor fourth-quarter scoring, one stat that may provide more clarity is their third-quarter scoring. While they rank second to last in the league in fourth-quarter scoring, they actually rank fourth in the NBA in third-quarter scoring with 30.5 points per game. This may fly over some fans’ heads, but this discrepancy is a real problem for Toronto moving forward.
Being a great third-quarter scoring team is obviously a positive; the dynasty that was the 2015-2019 Golden State Warriors may have been the best third-quarter scoring team of all time. They were so dominant in the third quarter that they rarely even played their starters in the final period, which is similar to what teams are experiencing against the Oklahoma City Thunder this year, as well.
Toronto Raptors forwards Brandon Ingram (3) and Scottie Barnes (4) with Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) | © Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images
The reason it’s an issue for head coach Darko Rajakovic and the Raptors is because they are playing well, but they are absolutely not dominating teams after halftime. So, at what point is it time to stop playing Ingram the entire third quarter, along with the other starters playing the majority of it? Clearly teams are pouring it on against Toronto to start the fourth without its leading scorers in the game, and oftentimes it’s too late to salvage the hole it has dug itself into.
Bench scoring has been a problem for the Raptors all season long, and the unit is not magically going to figure out how to be dramatically more productive with 21 games left in the season. So it’s on Rajakovic to alter the second-half rotation to better distribute the scorers to allow them to all be fresh and ready to come in early in the fourth and not come back out.