There is no such thing as a rivalry between the Toronto Raptors and the New York Knicks, for the latter always kicks the former's behind. On Tuesday night, the Knicks completed the season series sweep of the Raptors, using an excellent two-way effort towards the end of the game to take a 111-95 win on the road.
This marked the Raptors' fourth loss of the season to the Knicks, and none of those losses have been particularly close. Toronto has been outscored by New York by a total of 81 points this season in those games, and it's become evident that the Raptors aren't in the same league as the Knicks.
The Raptors' latest loss is yet another against a team with a top-10 record, and this is such a troubling sign and a foreboding omen that they won't be able to do much in the postseason. Nonetheless, head coach Darko Rajakovic is believing that his team can get it right, although he did acknowledge that they couldn't on Tuesday.
“When the time is right, it was not tonight,” Rajakovic said in response to a question from Michael Grange of Sportsnet as to when they'll be able to score another victory against a top-10 team.
Raptors showing signs of being pretenders
The Raptors looked good earlier in the season, and it helps that they were dominant against the reigning number one team in the Eastern Conference, the Cleveland Cavaliers. But their troubles against good teams have persisted, and to be the best, one has got to beat the best. And Toronto has failed on this front.
The good news is that the Raptors are still in fifth in the Eastern Conference and that if the season were to end today, they'd be facing the Cavs in the first round of the playoffs — a team that they've dispatched of thrice this season already.
