Karl-Anthony Towns returns to lineup, helps Knicks snap losing streak with 112-98 win over Raptors

The Knicks snapped their three-game losing streak with a 112-98 win over the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night at the Garden.

Here are some takeaways…

– The Knicks were a bit of a scare early in this one, which Josh Hart was briefly forced to the locker room after taking a shot to the ribs midway through the opening frame. As always, however, he came through and led all scorers with seven points in the first quarter.

– Karl-Anthony Towns came through his knee injury after entering the night questionable, and he showed no ill effects in the second as he knocked down back-to-back baskets to spark an 8-0 run. Towns went on to drill three more buckets for 15 points in the first half, but he was forced to the bench after picking up his third foul with three minutes left in the second.

– Toronto’s trio called BBQ (RJ Barrett, Scottie Barnes, Immanuel Quickley) combined for 33 points in the first half to help keep Toronto in the game, but the Knicks held a slight advantage going into halftime. Both offenses were on fire in the first half, putting up a total of 106 points while shooting 54 percent from the field.

– New York came flying out of the dressing room and completely took over. They used a 9-0 scoring run early in the third quarter and then a 14-0 run early in the fourth to open their biggest leads of the game and officially put away the pesky Raptors offense for good.

– Towns led the way for the Knicks with 27 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the field while grabbing 13 rebounds as Toronto simply had no answer for him. AND Anunoby also enjoyed a strong night against his former team, finishing with 27 points of his own on 8-of-13 shooting from the field and 4-of-6 from behind the arc.

– Hart was all over the place as he finished with 21 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists. Brunson was relatively in the scoring department (13 points), but he contributed six rebounds and seven assists in what ended up being a much-needed commanding victory.

– Landry Shamet (eight points) and Noble Achiwua (six points, four rebounds) stepped up with big minutes off the bench. Quickley finished the night with a team-high 22 points, while Barrett had 16.

Game MVP: Karl-Anthony Towns

New York has a completely different look when the big man is out there dominating, as was the case tonight.

Highlights

Upcoming schedule

The Knicks have a rematch with the Oklahoma City Thunder, who they lost to last week, on Friday at 7:30 PM at MSG.