Knicks Crushed by 50 in Toronto: Wiseman’s Double-Double Can’t Hide Ugly Warning Signs
The Knicks fell 148-98 to Toronto with their starters resting. James Wiseman posted 18 points and 10 rebounds, but defense and shooting struggled.
The New York Knicks gave their reserves an extended opportunity in Toronto. What followed was a difficult audition.
With Mike Brown resting his regular starters on the second night of a back-to-back, New York suffered a 148-98 preseason defeat to the Raptors at Scotiabank Arena. The result carries no regular-season consequences, but the performance exposed problems with ball security, perimeter shooting and defensive organization.
James Wiseman provided the strongest individual response, recovering from a quiet opening to finish with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Mohamed Diawara added 13 points, offering another encouraging contribution on a night when positives were otherwise scarce.
A Different Starting Five, Familiar Preseason Struggles
Brown opened with Jose Alvarado, Miles McBride, Bruce Brown, Diawara and Wiseman, giving the lineup a chance to handle responsibilities usually carried by New York’s established starters.
Mikal Bridges attended despite not being required to join the team, watching as the makeshift rotation quickly fell behind.
Neither side found its shooting rhythm immediately, but Toronto settled first. The Raptors moved ahead 13-4, forcing an early timeout, and continued to generate better opportunities as the quarter progressed.
RJ Barrett scored eight early points, while Scottie Barnes imposed himself with 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting in the opening period. New York trailed 42-22 after one quarter, already struggling to contain Toronto’s offense.
Wiseman failed to score in the period, and the first substitutions did little to stabilize the game. Diawara’s first three-pointer of the preseason offered a welcome moment, but the Knicks could not build momentum around it.
Toronto Turns Turnovers Into a First-Half Rout
The second quarter brought more trouble.
Toronto began with seven unanswered points, then delivered the decisive stretch after a Bruce Brown layup briefly made it 56-33. A 20-2 Raptors run pushed the contest far beyond New York’s reach.
Ja’Kobe Walter supplied eight points during that surge, while Jamal Shead distributed four assists. Kawhi Leonard, making his preseason debut, scored 11 points in the quarter and reached halftime with 21.
The Knicks entered the break trailing 85-47, with the supporting numbers explaining much of the damage.
New York committed 12 turnovers to Toronto’s two and lost the rebounding battle 29-17. The visitors also shot approximately 22% from three-point range, compared with 40% for the Raptors.
McBride and Tyler Nickel led the Knicks with eight points apiece at halftime. No New York player had reached double figures.
James Wiseman Responds After a Slow Start
Wiseman’s second-half production gave the Knicks something useful to take from an otherwise punishing evening.
The center became more effective around the basket, scoring through hooks, a putback and an alley-oop supplied by Bruce Brown. His nine-point third quarter showed greater offensive involvement after an unproductive start.
He eventually finished as New York’s leading scorer and rebounder.
That response matters for a player trying to make an impression, although the double-double should be viewed alongside the broader performance. Wiseman’s offensive improvement did not resolve the defensive difficulties that affected the entire lineup.
Pacôme Dadiet also contributed more after halftime, while Jaden Akins offered some playmaking and turned a steal into a basket. Those stretches helped individual players show flashes of value without meaningfully changing the direction of the game.
Diawara Offers Encouragement as Outside Shooting Falters
Diawara’s 13 points included two three-pointers, a useful development after his earlier preseason struggles from beyond the arc.
His performance nevertheless came with defensive growing pains and foul trouble, reflecting the uneven nature of New York’s night.
Across the roster, outside shooting remained a major obstacle. Nickel could not turn his early scoring into a consistent performance, while Tyler Kolek and Kevin McCullar Jr. also struggled to connect from distance.
The deficit eventually reached 53 points. Even as Toronto moved deeper into its rotation, the Knicks could not generate enough sustained offense to make the closing stages competitive.
What Mike Brown Can Take From the Defeat
The absence of New York’s regular starters is essential context. This was an evaluation game for reserves and roster hopefuls, not a reliable preview of how the full-strength Knicks will perform.
Still, the opportunities available to those players came with basic expectations: protect possession, compete defensively and execute together.
Too often, New York fell short in all three areas.
Wiseman’s recovery and Diawara’s scoring supplied individual positives, but the larger lesson concerns the supporting cast’s consistency. The Knicks need their depth players to function within a dependable structure when established starters are unavailable.
A preseason rematch with Toronto at Madison Square Garden on Thursday offers an immediate opportunity to respond. The score will soon be forgotten; a sharper, more connected performance would give Brown something more useful to remember.
