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TORONTO — The Knicks’ much-improved defense locked up when it was most needed.
In a tight game halfway through the fourth quarter Tuesday, the Knicks held the Raptors to just two points in the final five minutes and left Scotiabank Arena with a 111-95 victory and a 12th straight win over their division foe.
Trailing by two points after Immanuel Quickley’s runner with 5:50 left, the Raptors missed four consecutive buckets with two turnovers while under the pressure of the Knicks’ swarming defense.
The Knicks (40-22), who own the NBA’s top-ranked defense over their last 19 games, closed the win with a 16-2 run.
The critical point was a Jalen Brunson steal with about two minutes left, which he turned into an assist on Josh Hart’s layup on the other end. It gave the Knicks an 11-point lead and sent Toronto faithful funneling to the exits.
“We got stops. We were able to run late,” Brunson said. “We were trying to get as many easy baskets as much as possible. Made a couple key shots as well. But it really started with our defense.”
Brunson finished with a team-high 26 points and 10 assists but the offense was a group effort. Karl-Anthony Towns was also efficient with 21 points, 13 boards and six assists on 10-for-17 shooting.
OG Anunoby added 15 points. And until further notice — which is April 10 at MSG between the Knicks and Toronto, a rare fifth head-to-head matchup because of the NBA Cup schedule quirks — the Knicks own the Raptors.
“I mean, when our team is rolling and playing at a level defensively I know we can play at, we’re pretty damn good,” Towns said. “We need to be that if we expect to have a chance to have a deep playoff run. Obviously every round is a challenge in itself and you don’t want to count your ducks too far ahead and count your eggs, but for us to be the best version of ourselves it’s going to have to happen on that end of the basketball.”
The Raptors (35-26) arrived Tuesday with a point to prove. They’re rejuvenated this season and are returning to the playoffs, but they can’t compete with the Knicks. In the three previous matchups before Tuesday, they blew out their division rival.
On Tuesday, the Knicks waited until the final six minutes to step on Toronto’s throat.
“There may be times during a game when things aren’t going our way but we find a way to put the pieces together at the right time,” Brunson said. “So we just have to continue to do that.”
The Knicks haven’t lost to the Raptors in three years, which includes a 10-0 record since Anunoby was swapped for RJ Barrett and Quickley.
And they were prioritizing Tuesday’s game. Mike Brown said he decided to play Mitchell Robinson, who always rests one game of a back-to-back, against the Raptors instead of Wednesday’s home contest against the mighty Thunder.
The coach said that was because the Raptors are in the East. The Thunder are not.
Brown’s squad followed up with a win that kept the Knicks at third in the East, 4 ¹/₂ games clear of the No. 5 Raptors.
There’s a chance of a playoff matchup between the Raptors and Knicks. The most realistic path is a first-round series if the Knicks, currently seeded third, slip to fourth and the Raptors stay at No. 5.
That should be the preferred matchup for the Knicks, rather than facing the Sixers, Magic or Heat. But falling to fourth also means the Knicks could meet the Pistons in the second round — something they shouldn’t want.
There’s a lot left to unfold. But the first four games of a regular-season series between the Raptors and Knicks finished with an overwhelming winner.
The reason? A stout Knicks defense down the stretch.
“We look at our defense spurring our offense,” Hart said. “So games like this where we have little spurts of not scoring the ball we have to make sure we lock in and focus on creating easy opportunities, not letting them score, but getting our offense off our defense. I think we’ve done a good job with that.”