Jalen Brunson scored 20 of his 35 points in the first quarter on Tuesday night and the New York Knicks beat the Toronto Raptors 117-101 in their NBA Cup quarterfinal.
The Knicks will face the Orlando Magic in the semifinals on Saturday in Las Vegas.
Karl-Anthony Towns added 14 points and 16 rebounds for the Knicks, who have won four in a row and eight of nine. Josh Hart scored 21 points, Mikal Bridges had 15, OG Anunoby chipped in with 13 points, two blocks and two steals while Jordan Clarkson contributed 12 points.
The Knicks have won 10 straight meetings with the Raptors.
Brandon Ingram had 17 of his 31 points in the first quarter for the Raptors, who have lost four straight. Jamal Shead added 18 points, Scottie Barnes and Ja’Kobe Walter each scored 13 and Jakob Poeltl had 10 points and nine rebounds.
The Knicks led by as many as 24 points before entering the fourth quarter with a 15-point lead. The lead grew to 20 when Bridges made a 3-pointer with 10:14 left. Toronto cut the score to 15 on Ingram’s jumper with 6:27 left. Anunoby’s 3-pointer put New York up 18 with 4:47 remaining.
The Raptors overcame a recent trend of rough starts to take a 39-35 lead after a lightly played first quarter that featured nine lead changes. New York had seven turnovers and Toronto committed four.
New York stiffened defensively and opened the second quarter with a 12-2 score. The lead grew to 11 with 5:13 left in the second quarter when Brunson hit a floater.
The Knicks’ ability to collect offensive rebounds helped them extend the margin to 18 with 1:19 left when Bridges made a reverse layup. New York led 69-52 at halftime.
Hart scored New York’s first nine points of the third quarter to extend the lead to 24. Toronto showed some spark and a Barnes steal resulted in Walter’s layup that cut the lead to 14 with 4:11 to play. The Knicks led 94-79 after the third quarter.
Guard Immanuel Quickley (illness) did not play for Toronto, while guard Miles McBride (ankle) was out for New York.
–Field level media
