TORONTO – At least Toronto Raptors I'll rest now.
Energy has been a topic of conversation lately in Raptorland, with the team unable to keep going for a full 48 minutes. They looked tired before games started, tired before games ended and tired in between as they battled injuries, a busy schedule and stronger opponents.
The Raptors are not a team that can win most games just because they have the better team on paper. They need to win with energy, fight, hustle and support – for the full 48 minutes. They haven't done this for a long time, because the team lost six out of seven.
That loss of focus and execution throughout their 48 games came back to haunt them on Tuesday as they lost to the team 117-101. New York Knicks in the NBA Cup quarterfinals, ending their hopes of a midseason trip to Las Vegas and a chance at redemption for a young team hoping to find its footing.
“I thought the guys did a good job with the setup, the motivation, but motivation itself is not enough to win these games. You also need to be very disciplined. You need to execute the game plan, know exactly what we need to do, know the personnel,” head coach Darko Rajakovic said after the game. “You know, that's why I would love for us to play this team again in the next two days so we can continue to improve… because playoff basketball is like that: it's going to be the same team. You have to beat the same team four times. And I think there's a lot of good lessons that we can take from this game.”
They did it, but it was a lesson that perhaps should have been more emphasized the last few times they lost the game due to a 12-minute break.
var adServerUrl = “”; var $el = $(“#video_container-518951”); var permalink = $el.closest('.snet-single-article').data('permalink');
$el.after( unescape(“%3Cscript src=\”” + (document.location.protocol == “https:” ? “https://sb” : “http://b”) + “.scorecardresearch.com/beacon.js\” %3E%3C/script%3E”) );
$( document ).one( 'ready', function() { $( “#video_container-518951” ).SNPlayer( { bc_account_id: “1704050871”, bc_player_id: “JCdte3tMv”, //autoplay: true, //is_has_autoplay_switch: false, bc_videos: 6386264233112, is_has_continious_play: “false”, section: “”, thumbnail: “https://www.sportsnet.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/6386264233112-1024×576.jpg”, Direct_url: “https://www.sportsnet.ca/nba/video/brunson-takes-charge-for-knicks-in-dominant-nba-cup-win-over-raptors/” });
var adServerUrl = “”; var $el = $(“#video_container-164433”); var permalink = $el.closest('.snet-single-article').data('permalink'); $el.after( unescape(“%3Cscript src=\”” + (document.location.protocol == “https:” ? “https://sb” : “http://b”) + “.scorecardresearch.com/beacon.js\” %3E%3C/script%3E”) ); $( document ).one( 'ready', function() { $( “#video_container-164433” ).SNPlayer( { bc_account_id: “1704050871”, bc_player_id: “JCdte3tMv”, //autoplay: false, //is_has_autoplay_switch: false, bc_videos: 6386264233112, is_has_continious_play: “false”, section: “”, thumbnail: “https://www.sportsnet.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/6386264233112-1024×576.jpg”, Direct_url: “https://www.sportsnet.ca/nba/video/brunson-takes-charge-for-knicks-in-dominant-nba-cup-win-over-raptors/” });
All it took was one frame for the bright lights of the NBA Cup to dim, as a 34-13 second quarter in the Knicks' favor ultimately became the difference between a trip to Las Vegas for the Cup semifinals and a trip to Miami to take on the Heat on Monday after five much-needed days of rest.
“Yeah, seven games in 11 days. We definitely need that,” Jamal Sheed said after the game. “We need to get better. RJ (Barrett), Quick (Immanuel Quickley), our whole team, we just need our bodies to get better.”
After a productive first quarter – one that Rajakovic had been hoping for lately, with Brandon Ingram scoring 17 of his team's 31 points to give the team a four-point lead – the Raptors were silenced in the second, shooting five of 21 from the field and one of eight from deep.
The excuses are starting to wear thin after losing six games out of seven, but it is clear that the lack of players in the squad has taken its toll.
In addition to Barrett being sidelined for the past two weeks, the Raptors were without Quickley's scoring ability as he battled illness. These absences became noticeable in the second quarter, when Rajakovic was forced to make radical changes to the rotation.
They turned to guys like Chuckie Hepburn and AJ Lawson, putting together mixed lineups with Grady Dick, Ja'Coby Walter, Jakob Poeltl and Scotty Barnes. The Raptors star struggled to keep it all together as he finished with 13 points on 6-of-18 from the field to go along with five rebounds and four assists.
-
Raptors show
Sportsnet's Blake Murphy and two-time NBA champion Matt Bonner talk all things Raptors and the NBA. Broadcast live every weekday on Sportsnet 590 The FAN from 11:00 am to noon ET.
Rajakovic called the performances “great learning opportunities” for the younger guys on the team and those who rarely get minutes such as Hepburn, who was making just his second appearance of the season. But a knockout game with trophies and money on the line may not be the best time to prioritize learning over action. These minutes would not have existed for these players if not for their time of desperation.
Down 12-2 early in the second quarter, the Raptors sent their starting unit back to stop the bleeding, but the damage had already been done. Suddenly the Raptors offense, which had been making complex passes that cut through the Knicks' rainforest like a machete, was caught in a web of vines.
“In the second quarter, when we got tired of going deep into the rotation, I thought we were making good shots, but we ended up just missing shots, missing layups, and that led to their transition point on the other side very quickly,” Rajakovic said. “I think that was the main reason we dug a hole there. That second quarter. We were competitive the rest of the game.”
In those tone-shifting 12 minutes, the starting XI looked sluggish and performances plummeted. Suddenly, the only hope was the Raptors' consistent third-quarter performance, the only thing that had made previous losses of late more understandable. Jalen Brunson denied them that opportunity.
Although he missed several shots in the frame, the Knicks superstar hit his 3-pointers right on time. He ended a potential Raptors run after Ingram's two big triples in the ninth minute, then he prevented a turnover with a 25-foot shot after the Raptors' “Hack-A-Mitch” strategy worked and Knicks center Mitchell Robinson missed both of his free throws.
Those goals were part of Brunson's 35-point performance, 20 of which came in the first quarter.
“Branson, he caught fire early in the game and he was outstanding today,” Rajakovic said after the loss. “He made shots, hard shots, contested shots. Making threes, getting to the free throw line, he got it all.”
And protection from players like O.G. Anunoby, Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart did the rest, forcing Barnes to play a more physical and tiring game than he had hoped, and to attack the lethargic and “not his own” (in Rajakovic's words) Jakob Poeltl.
In fact, if not for the 12-minute stretch, it would have been a winning game for the Raptors. It was a significantly better showing than their last game against the Knicks on Nov. 30, when they trailed by 41 in the first quarter and were completely separated by a stacked field of opponents.
If not for injuries, wear and tear, fatigue or a terrible 12-minute stretch, the Raptors could have been out in the desert this week. But the season takes a difficult turn as the same performance and energy issues continue to plague them, and excuses are no parachute for a team in free fall. Perhaps a break will be for the best.
