TORONTO – Brandon Ingram couldn’t help but shake his head. He knows the Toronto Raptors have to be better at closing out opponents.
Ingram had 27 points, six rebounds, and three steals as the Raptors coughed up a 119-92 loss to the New York Knicks on Wednesday. Toronto led by as many as 12 points but wilted in the third quarter, getting outscored 35-19 in the frame, to lose a winnable game to a divisional rival.
“We’ve just got to put together 48 minutes. We know that,” said Ingram. “Especially against good teams like the New York Knicks, we definitely thought that the game got away from us. We let one slip away.
“We’ll be more prepared. We’ll look at the film for the next time we do play those guys, but we know we just let one slip away.”
Mikal Bridges scored 30 points, including 11 consecutive points in the final 2:36 of the third, as New York (29-18) won its fourth straight. OG Anunoby had 26 points and a season-high six steals against his former team.
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Scottie Barnes had a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds as Toronto (29-20) saw its four-game win streak snapped. RJ Barrett of Mississauga, Ont., had 14 points and eight rebounds in just 24 minutes of play as he recovers from a sprained ankle.
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Ingram said the Raptors’ offence stagnated after intermission.
“I thought we pushed the pace in the first and second quarter a little bit more than the second half, and they just got a little bit more physical,” said Ingram. “They capitalized off our turnovers, off our missed shots, they ran in transition, and we weren’t making shots.”
Toronto head coach Darko Rajakovic said that his offence was trying to force plays rather than getting creative when the Knicks were shutting down Ingram.
“When somebody denies you, you need to go on a back door cut and you need to execute and find offence in the flow of that,” said Rajakovic, noting they had eight turnovers in the third alone. “You cannot force-feed somebody when he’s being completely denied.
“There were a couple of those situations where they were really trying to cut (Ingram) off from the team.”
Toronto dropped to 0-8 against the Knicks since trading Anunoby and Precious Achiuwa to New York for Barrett and Immanuel Quickley on Dec. 30, 2023.
The Knicks’ win lifted New York into second in the Eastern Conference, ahead of the Boston Celtics based on tiebreakers. The Raptors sank to fourth in the standings, a full game behind New York and Boston.
It also dropped Toronto’s record at Scotiabank Arena to 13-11, considerably worse than its 16-9 record on the road. Ingram had no explanation as to why the Raptors are better on the road.
“I guess we get excited when we go on the road,” chuckled Ingram. “I don’t know, but we’ll figure it out. We’ll figure it out.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 29, 2026.
© 2026 The Canadian Press
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