WATCH: Knicks fall short against Raptors despite RJ Barrett forcing OT with a MONSTER Jam
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RJ Barrett dunks to force OT Vs. Raptors
The Toronto Raptors visited Atlantic division rivals the New York Knicks in a thrilling game on Monday. The nail-biting contest went all the way to overtime and the Raptors were just able to edge out the hosting Knicks in Madison Square Garden. Knicks foward RJ Barrett pulled out one of the best and most clutch dunks of the year to force OT, but, was unable to lead the Knicks to victory in the Overtime period.
With 6 seconds remaining, Scottie Barnes had the chance to seal the game at the free-throw line and put the Raptors up three. Unfortunately for the sophomore, he missed the free throw. Barrett grabbed the defensive board and quickly pushed the ball up the floor. Seeing an unsettled defense, Barrett took advantage. He took the recovering Barnes all the way to the rack and threw down one of the most vicious poster dunks of the season to tie the game with 5 tenths of a second to play.
The Knicks just weren’t able to finish the job in OT after keeping their composure in regulation. Barrett was asked about the play after the game. He said, “We were down two, there were six, seven seconds left, I knew I could go to the basket. So I tried to do that. I saw Scottie was there. So I knew if I passed him that I would have a wide-open layup or they would’ve all came in and we would have an open 3.”
Barrett’s big game added to his string of excellent performances since the start of December. The Knicks beat the Cavaliers on December 4th to kickstart their 8-game win streak. Barrett has averaged 22/6/3 on 46% FG% and 39% from three in that stretch.
Related: REPORT: New York Knicks open to send Derrick Rose to “an ideal situation”
Previewing the New York Knicks’ upcoming stretch
The New York Knicks currently occupy the #6 spot in the Eastern Conference. 3 games back of #5 seed Cleveland Cavaliers. Although in a playoff spot already, the Knicks will want to move up the standings to potentially avoid a first-round series against Boston, Milwaukee, or Brooklyn. For this purpose and to show up Charles Barkley who dismissed them as an elite team, the upcoming 10 games will be of utmost importance.
In these next 10, they face the following: The Wizards and Hawks in the next 2. Then they go to Toronto to face the Raptors team that just beat them. After that, it’s a brutal 7 game stretch where they take on Cleveland, Boston, Brooklyn, the Lakers, Miami, and the Clippers before rounding off the stretch against Philadelphia. This is the proving ground for New York. To be considered elite themselves, they’ll have to beat the elite.
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