{"id":708040,"date":"2026-04-11T08:45:36","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T08:45:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/708040\/"},"modified":"2026-04-11T08:45:36","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T08:45:36","slug":"knicks-cruise-past-possible-first-round-foe-raptors-to-lock-in-no-3-seed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/708040\/","title":{"rendered":"Knicks cruise past possible first-round foe Raptors to lock in No. 3 seed"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"An<\/p>\n

Knicks win<\/p>\n

If this is the Knicks\u2019 opponent in the first round of the playoffs, they have to like their chances for an easy series against their personal punching bag.<\/p>\n

And they played like a team that wanted to ensure they get this matchup.<\/p>\n

They breezed past the Raptors 112-95 on Friday night at Madison Square Garden, marking another season sweep and their 13th straight win over Toronto \u2014 a streak that started in 2023.<\/p>\n

Along with the Celtics\u2019 rout of the Pelicans and Cavaliers\u2019 loss to the Hawks, it locks the Knicks into the No. 3 seed in the East.<\/p>\n

And the Raptors\u2019 loss, coupled with the Hawks\u2019 win over the Cavaliers, means the Raptors fall to the No. 6 seed \u2014 the seed that the Knicks will face in the first round \u2014 and the Hawks ascend to the No. 5 seed.<\/p>\n

\"Jalen<\/p>\n

Jalen Brunson reacts after hitting a 3-point shot during the second quarter in a game against the Toronto Raptors at Madison Square Garden on April 10, 2026. JASON SZENES FOR THE NEW YORK POST<\/p>\n

The Knicks had a chance to have a big say in their first-round opponent. And their commanding win \u2014 with a little help \u2014 means it is most likely they\u2019ll get the most favorable matchup \u2014 on paper, at least.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know who we\u2019ll play in the playoffs, but we\u2019ve played a lot of these teams four or five times, whatever it is,\u201d coach Mike Brown said. \u201cWe feel like we have a pretty good feel on what most teams want to do. And it\u2019s no different for teams looking at us.\u201d<\/p>\n

There can still be another twist Sunday, though. The Raptors own the tiebreaker on the Hawks, so if the Raptors beat the Nets and the Hawks lose to the Heat, the two teams would flip-flop again and the Knicks would face the Hawks.<\/p>\n

The Magic, after beating the Bulls, also still have a long-shot chance to claim the No. 6 seed, though that would require the Raptors to inexplicably lose to the tanking Nets.<\/p>\n

\"Karl-Anthony<\/p>\n

Karl-Anthony Towns loses the ball during the first quarter. JASON SZENES FOR THE NEW YORK POST<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It means the Knicks\u2019 regular-season finale against the Hornets is meaningless \u2014 they can sit their main players and get some extra rest ahead of the postseason.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s great when you can be anywhere near the top [of the conference],\u201d Karl-Anthony Towns said. \u201cWe had the chance to dictate our destiny and we did that by winning these games. It\u2019s great to be in this position.\u201d<\/p>\n

So much of the discourse in recent days has surrounded Jalen Brunson and Towns finally finding a rhythm together as the regular season winds down. And both were excellent Friday.<\/p>\n

Brunson finished with a game-high 29 points. Towns was particularly impactful early \u2014 he scored or assisted the Knicks\u2019 first seven points \u2014 and finished with 22 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. They carried the scoring load with OG Anunoby missing the entire second half due to a left ankle injury and Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart both quiet.<\/p>\n

Jordan Clarkson and Landry Shamet added 10 and eight points, respectively.<\/p>\n

The Raptors were shorthanded, playing without ex-Knicks RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley.<\/p>\n

\"Toronto<\/p>\n

Toronto Raptors forward Brandon Ingram puts up a shot as New York Knicks guard Mikal Bridges defends during the third quarter in a game against the Toronto Raptors at Madison Square Garden. JASON SZENES FOR THE NEW YORK POST<\/p>\n

The Knicks own a five-game winning streak, including three in a row over playoff teams after they went a month without beating a team above .500. They have also won 12 of their past 15 games.<\/p>\n

\u201cTonight was a good night to show our improvement as a team,\u201d Towns said. \u201cThings we can be better at, but I think that right now confidence is high, morale is great in the locker room. It feels good to step into Sunday with that kind of momentum.\u201d<\/p>\n

After jumping out to an early 14-3 lead, the Knicks allowed the Raptors to close the first quarter on an 18-8 run and entered the second quarter with just a one-point lead. But the Knicks opened the second quarter with a 10-0 run. Jose Alvarado, after two straight DNPs, got some rare playing time with Miles McBride out (injury management) and helped spark the run. Alvarado finished with 12 points.<\/p>\n

They took a 15-point lead into halftime and led by double digits nearly the entire second half.<\/p>\n

\"Knicks<\/p>\n

Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns reacts in the fourth quarter. JASON SZENES FOR THE NEW YORK POST<\/p>\n

Mitchell Robinson\u2019s absence (load management) meant Ariel Hukporti got some rare playing time as well when Towns was on the bench. He recorded eight points.<\/p>\n

This Knicks-Raptors matchup hasn\u2019t been competitive in years. And now there\u2019s a strong chance we\u2019ll see an entire series of it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Knicks win If this is the Knicks\u2019 opponent in the first round of the playoffs, they have to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":708041,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3770],"tags":[4990,7,4441,46,677,3715,288,14219,2131,11053,327,563,304,4988,1634,1260,2715,1247,6,671,741,681,1041,6834,680,476,3820],"class_list":{"0":"post-708040","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-toronto-raptors","8":"tag-ariel-hukporti","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-brandon-ingram","11":"tag-celtics","12":"tag-hawks","13":"tag-immanuel-quickley","14":"tag-jalen-brunson","15":"tag-jason-szenes","16":"tag-jordan-clarkson","17":"tag-jose-alvarado","18":"tag-josh-hart","19":"tag-karl-anthony-towns","20":"tag-knicks","21":"tag-landry-shamet","22":"tag-madison-square-garden","23":"tag-mikal-bridges","24":"tag-miles-mcbride","25":"tag-mitchell-robinson","26":"tag-nba","27":"tag-nets","28":"tag-og-anunoby","29":"tag-raptors","30":"tag-rj-barrett","31":"tag-the-raptors","32":"tag-toronto","33":"tag-toronto-raptors","34":"tag-torontoraptors"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116385201951978586","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/708040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=708040"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/708040\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/708041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=708040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=708040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=708040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}