(4-14) NEW YORK KNICKS, 98 VS. (13-4) TORONTO RAPTORS, 126 SCOTIABANK ARENA WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2019
TORONTO RAPTORS QUOTES
NICK NURSE (HEAD COACH)
On the lopsided game … You just want to play the right way, play the way that we want to play and (with) the things that we are working on. It’s an opportunity for them. It was Shamorie’s (Pond) first NBA game, you know, and he got himself a couple of buckets. It’s good, you have to do that stuff sometimes and it is nice to do it in a game like that. I wasn’t expecting that game, that’s for sure. They have been playing everybody tough lately.
On Pascal Siakam starting slow then hitting a bunch of shots … He gets loose. I don’t know, I just think that he is taking pretty good opportunities and they are not all going to go, right? He just keeps seeing them and fires them in there. I think tonight he saw a lot of space and he took it at times and then he jab-stepped, pull backed a few times early. I love it, I think he is ultra aggressive, a lot of catch and shoot threes which I love. Those are easy possessions you don’t have to get pounded on or make three spin moves to get a shot up. It’s nice that he gets to come down and take some of those.
On OG Anunoby’s rebounding … We are trying to work on it. We have been, early in the year our crash rate was really low as far as offensive rebounding and the number of guys that we are sending. I think that we were last in the league actually. Again, so much of it is just trying to piece this thing together with the injuries and all that kind of stuff, but OG is capable. He is in some areas that when shots go up that he can fly in there and use his athleticism to keep some alive and I think a little bit of Rondae (Hollis-Jefferson), Chris (Boucher) and Terence (Davis) activity on the glass has maybe spread a little bit, a little contagious. I think we have had a few more guys on the boards and it has just become a little bit more of who we are and I love it, because it is extra possessions. We certainly want to guard against defensive transition, but we need to be crashing more and being a little riskier to try and get the ball back. I like that this is happening.
PASCAL SIAKAM (31 points, eight rebounds)
What changed at the start of the second quarter after a slow start to the game? I think we just brought more energy to the game and playing harder. I think when you play against teams that the record might look a little, you know, so you don’t come out with the energy and focus like you are supposed to. We all know what we have to do to be able to win, so we came out in the second half, we talked about it at halftime and coming out with more energy and more focus.
On RJ Barrett… I think it’s good and I think it’s always good having the opportunity to be home and coming back and playing. It’s his first year, he’s been playing well and continuing to learn. I think the future is bright for him. He’s got to continue to work hard and I’m sure he was happy to be here and he probably had tons of family here, so it always feels good.
FRED VANVLEET (15 points, four assists) What’s the goal in a game like this when it gets out of hand? Just keep building on our habits. We got a little loose there in the third, they were fighting, they are going to keep scraping. They are a young talented team trying to find themselves, so they kept fighting, but I think we just did enough to pull away, give ourselves some room and the guys off the bench kinda of gave us the rest of the separation we needed to not go back in the game. Just building our habits, I though that we started lackadaisical a little bit, then picked it up a bit at the end of the first, start of the second. That’s all you look for is just try to keep getting better and take these wins as we can get them.
CHRIS BOUCHER (13 points, season-high 12 rebounds) What was the key to tonight’s victory? Coach told us rebounding was going to be key to win this game. We came into this game thinking about defence and we knew that if we had a good defensive game we were able to go with that one. I think everybody came in with a lot of energy and tried to give as much to defensive rebounding as we could.
On having four Canadian players on the floor at same time… We’ve come a long way. Now we get more and more Canadians and it definitely feels good to see all of us on the floor. I think it’s been a long time coming for having a bunch of Canadians in the league.
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NEW YORK KNICKS QUOTES
DAVID FIZDALE (HEAD COACH)
What did you see in the second quarter? I saw a championship ball club, a team that understands how to shift the game in their favour when things aren’t going right. You don’t accomplish what they’ve accomplished if you don’t understand how to play 48 minutes.
Does Toronto’s defense wear on a team physically as much as it does mentally? Yes, especially when you’ve got that kind of length and speed and athleticism, understanding of what you’re doing. They are a fantastic defensive team. They deserve a lot of credit for what they’ve done. It’s the same selflessness at the other end of the court. They run the floor hard for each other, cut hard for each other and move the ball selflessly. We can learn a lot from this team.
What is the message to the team after this loss? My message to the team is trust. Right now we’re still fighting that fight to trust each other offensively and defensively. First half we saw the ball move in that first quarter without hesitation. We get to the second quarter guys were holding the ball too long. They’ve just got to trust the easy play and trust the pass. Same thing defensively. If you get beat you have to trust that there are guys going to be there for you to protect you and the next guy is going to protect the next guy. That’s just something we haven’t done consistently through a full game. We’re constantly fighting for that trust for 48 minutes.
RJ BARRETT (16 points, five rebounds, four assists)
What is your takeaway of this Toronto team? They’re tough. First unit, second unit, third unit, they all play the same way. They play tough, with grit. Everybody moves the ball, shares the ball, scores. It was great to see and face a team like that.
What did it mean to play in Toronto? It was great. I said I was going to have fun. I tried my best out there. Hopefully I get to play here again many times.
How are you managing the losses? I’m playing basketball. That’s the light that I see. I get to play basketball every day. I come in, I put my hardhat on and do what I can to help the team.
How were your emotions coming into today? I had too many emotions. I was so happy all day. Literally the whole time before the game I was trying to calm myself down for two hours. It was great to be back in Toronto.
JULIUS RANDLE (19 points, eight rebounds)
What did you see change between the first quarter and the second quarter? Offensive rebounds, transition, and they made 21 threes.
Did you feel that this game was going to be a break for the team? We were hoping so. I don’t think we were looking at it in that perspective. We were just trying to win the game. Afterwards, you look at it like that. We were never able to answer the run.
On the Raptors… They play really good basketball. They move the ball, they play fast, share the game. We don’t want to watch it from our end, but we can definitely learn something from them for sure.
On trusting each other… We just got to trust each other, trust the game and play like that consistently for 48 minutes. We do it in spurts, but not for a full game and it hurts us.
The view from left field 
The RAPTORS DNA is being analyzed by other teams now. They haven’t seen the game played for a long stretch of time, the way the game was invented and meant to be played. For a long time basketball was all about the high priced superstars with their entitled sophomoric egos on the floor. Now people are seeing that basketball is a team sport again. Basketball is coming home to its roots and where it was invented. Hail RAPTORS DNA!
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