The streak lives on — and not the good kind.
Four of the five Knicks starters stayed at home, and Mikal Bridges made the trip to Canada only to watch his reserves get eviscerated in a 148-98 rout by the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday.
Raptors All-Star Kawhi Leonard scored 21 points on four-of-eight shooting from 3-point range. Former Knicks R.J. Barrett (17 points, 6-of-12 shooting) and Immanuel Quickley (eight points, six assists) played just over 20 minutes, and Toronto won the game in the first quarter, outscoring the Knicks, 42-22, in the opening frame.
Andre Drummond also sat Tuesday’s matchup in Toronto. Former No. 2 overall pick James Wiseman got the start and finished with a team-high 18 points and 10 rebounds in 24 minutes. Drew Eubanks played 15 minutes and scored eight points with two rebounds, two assists and a block. And Tony Bradley, who scored 10 points in Monday’s loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, had four points and three rebounds in nine minutes of action.
In a limited sample size without the starters available in Toronto, the Miles McBride-Jose Alvarado pairing struggled against a Raptors team built on defensive versatility. McBride had eight points with three assists but missed all four of his attempts from behind the arc, and Alvarado shot two-of-six from the field for four points and four assists.
The Knicks were outscored, 52-36, in the 17:23 the pair of guards spent on the floor together. All three of the Alvarado-McBride stretches lost ground: 23-12 Raptors in the first quarter, 24-14 in the second and 9-6 to start the third, with the Knicks logging more turnovers than assists and a woeful 3-point percentage in their minutes on the floor.
The Knicks will play their final preseason game, again against the Raptors, at Madison Square Garden on Friday. Head coach Mike Brown referred to the preseason finale as a “dress rehearsal,” meaning he will play his starters close to, if not outright their normal minutes load.
The Knicks host the Philadelphia 76ers on Opening Night on Oct. 20, where the franchise will raise its first championship banner in 53 years. The 76ers signed LeBron James and Anfernee Simons and traded for Boston Celtics Finals MVP Jaylen Brown to build a title contender around Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey.