The Raptors will drop their first of five meetings with New York this season. They’ve lost nine straight games vs the Knicks, dating back before the Anunoby-IQ/Barrett trade. Their next chance to snap that skid: the NBA Cup quarterfinals in Toronto on Dec. 9

Scottie Barnes deserves better than a 0-2 mini road trip. Can’t ask much more from your best player on a back-to-back. From the 4th quarter in Charlotte through tonight in NYC, just not what we’ve come to expect from Ingram. Barrett’s ability to generate easy O has also been missed.

This was probably a scheduled loss anyway, hence the decision to rest Poeltl tonight rather than in the friendlier matchup yesterday. Splitting these 2 would’ve been a good outcome. Letting the Charlotte game (up 12 with 6 minutes left vs an inferior team) slip away really hurts.

6 points on 2-of-7 shooting with 5 turnovers in 24 minutes. Give Mikal Bridges some credit for Brandon Ingram's worst game as a Raptor. He's a fantastic defender. Rough night all around for BI.

Murray-Boyles has 6 points and 7 rebounds (4 of them on the offensive glass) in his 12 minutes. Raptors are on a 22-3 run, cutting New York's lead (once 24) to 5 points. CMB's fingerprints are all over it. The best he's looked since coming back from his knee injury.

Scottie Barnes: 14 points, 5-6 FG, 4-4 3P Everybody else: 19 points, 8-22 FG, 0-7 3P

Starting Battle vs New York's high-octane O made sense. Rested legs on the 2nd night of a b2b & some extra floor spacing... in theory. In actuality, the Raptors are shooting 1-for-8 from 3. The Knicks? 9-14. They just dropped 41 1st-quarter points on the Raps & lead by 19. Yikes

Brandon Ingram was shooting 10-for-16 from the field late in the third quarter last night. Since then, he's missed 14 straight shots, including 9 in the fourth quarter and OT last night and his first four attempts tonight.

Through 5 minutes, Deuce McBride is outscoring the Raptors 12-10. Knicks have hit 5 of their 7 3-point attempts and McBride is responsible for 4 of 'em.

Raptors start small vs New York, with Jamison Battle in for Poeltl. Quickley, Walter, Battle, Ingram, Barnes.

As expected, no Barrett or Poeltl (injury management on second night of a b2b) tonight in New York.

Tough way for the streak to end. Raptors led by 12 midway through the 4th quarter but were outscored 30-11 from there (including a 5+ minute scoring drought). Hornets didn’t take their first lead until OT. Had been executing well in crunch time lately. Not the case tonight.

Quickley was having a great night (22 points, 10 assists) but really came apart down the stretch. Rough stuff on both ends. Decision making needs to be better from a lead guard in those moments.

Charlotte's first lead of the night comes 90 seconds into overtime.

Pretty good look for Ingram to win it there, and we know he can knock those down, but it hits back rim. So, it's overtime in Charlotte with the winning streak on the line (and a tough game coming up in New York tomorrow).

The Raptors have couched up a 12-point lead in 5 scoreless minutes. Tie game with 51 seconds left.

Jakob Poeltl has 9 assists, tying his career-high that he set in 2022 with San Antonio. He's 1 assist, 1 rebound and 4 points away from his first career triple-double with 3 minutes to go. A full 6-9-9-2-1 line in 26 minutes tonight.

The Raptors' 4 regular starters (Barnes, Ingram, Quickley and Poeltl) scored or assisted on 24 of the team's 25 first-half field goals and 53 of its 58 points.

Hasn't happened often this season but the Raptors' supporting cast is getting outplayed for the 2nd straight game. Fortunately, the starters have been great. Ingram, Barnes & IQ scored or assisted on 51 of the team's 58 1st-half pts & Jak (4-6-5) is on trip-doub watch. Raps by 6.

After 7.5 minutes, Brandon Ingram has as many points as the entire Charlotte starting lineup (10) and the Raptors have missed as many shots as the Hornets have made (3). Toronto leads 26-12.

Ja’Kobe Walter is back in the Raptors starting lineup, filling in for the injured Barrett vs Charlotte tonight.

Solid start to #StrangerThings5. All the Will/Robin interpersonal stuff really hit; that's Stranger Things at its absolute best. The military's pursuit of El was the least interesting thing about S4; probably didn't need to triple down on it here. Can't wait for the next drop.

Definitely didn't see this big #StrangerThings5 reveal coming.

The Raptors will host the Knicks in the NBA Cup quarterfinals on Dec 9 or 10, with the winner advancing to the semifinals in Vegas to face whoever comes out of Magic-Heat. Magic (GB winner): 4-0, +64 Raptors (GA winner): 4-0, +55 Knicks (GC winner): 3-1, +35 Heat (WC): 3-1, +49

Orlando wins an NBA Cup thriller in Detroit, so the Magic will claim the No. 1 seed on the East side of the knockout bracket. The Raptors are locked into the 2nd seed and will host the winner of Group C (Knicks or Heat) in the quarterfinals.

#Survivor49 spoilers: Rizo is playing one of the best strategic games of the New Era but this is too early to be so blatantly showboating/jury managing at tribal. Idol gives him some protection but what he doesn’t know is that there’s a game-winning move Blue Sophi can make next week.

“This is why I’m here.” We’ve seen Brandon Ingram make the big game-winning pass, now we’ve seen him make the big game-winning shot. But just as encouragingly, the Raptors are closing games on the defensive end too:

How does it feel to hit your first game winner as a Raptor? Ingram: “It feels great. It’s practice for our end goal.”

Brandon Ingram on going at Pascal Siakam in crunch time: “I knew he was in foul trouble and I knew he didn’t want to be overly aggressive, so he was at my mercy at that point.”

What’s the clean version of that Brandon Ingram said after hitting tonight’s game winner? “I said, ‘This is why I’m here’. That’s as clean as I can say it.”

Darko after the Raptors’ 9th straight win: “Definitely we feel happy and prideful but at the same time we understand there is so much more basketball in front of us…Once you’re winning it feels good and it’s also motivation to see what’s the next level for us, how far we can go”

Darko said that Gradey is feeling fine, just held him out as a precaution.

With Boston snapping Detroit's 13-game winning streak, the Raptors are now tied with OKC for the longest active win streak in the NBA. They've won 9 straight (and 13 of their last 14), tied for the 4th-longest win streak in franchise history (and their longest since Feb. 2020).

Ingram and Barnes: 50 of the Raptors' 97 points, 18 of their 48 rebounds, 19 of their 27 FTA and clutch plays on both ends. Coming in, the most free throws Barnes had ever made in a game without missing was 9. He went 14-for-14 from the line tonight.

Not the prettiest win of the streak, but Raptors continue to take care of business against teams they should be beating as well as in crunch time. They improve to 8-2 vs sub-.500 competition (and have won their last 8) and 7-2 in clutch games.

The Raptors clinch a top-2 seed in the East’s NBA Cup bracket & will host their quarterfinals game on either Dec. 9 or 10. Seeding/opponent are still TBD but they’re likely to face the Heat, Cavs, Knicks, Pistons or Bucks. They finish the group stage 4-0 with a +55 differential.

Poeltl blocks his old buddy Pascal Siakam at the rim and Ingram may have just hit the dagger on him. BI has the Raptors' last 6 points, 3 big buckets inside the final 3:35. Clutch.

Ingram clutch bucket on one end, Barnes forces a Pacers backcourt violation on the other. Wouldn't be a pretty win but would be an impressive one, all things considered.

Bucks lose in Miami, meaning the Raptors can clinch home court in the NBA Cup quarters with a win tonight. Problem is the Pacers have fought back and erased Toronto's 13-point lead. It's Indy by 3 with 7 minutes left.

The Pacers just went 7:12 between points and 7:41 between field goals. It was a 25-1 Raptors run, turning an 11-point deficit into a 13-point lead. Tournament tough.

Ja'Kobe Walter NBA Cup podium game!

Walter starts the second half in place of Murray-Boyles (in place of Barrett). Was a big part of their 12-0 run to close the first half.

This game hasn't exactly been an NBA Cup classic but here are the Raptors, leading by 1 at half despite shooting 37% from the field and 2-for-14 from 3. Speaks to how things are going in Pacer land these days. Impressive 16-6-3 line for Barnes, the best player on the court so far

Barnes draws the 4th foul on his former teammate Pascal Siakam with 3.6 seconds left in the 1st half. Big.

Gradey Dick to the locker room after a hard fall going for a rebound. Battle starts the 2nd quarter.

Pretty sleepy quarter for the Raptors. Barnes and Ingram have 14 points on 5-10 FG. Everybody else: 7 points on 2-12 FG. They've missed 8 of their 9 3-point attempts as a team. Not the impact we're used to seeing the bench make early on. Pacers by 4 after 1Q.

Brandon Ingram guarding T.J. McConnell behind the arc:

Raptors are starting BIG vs Indiana. Collin Murray-Boyles, not Ja’Kobe Walter, starts in Barrett’s spot. So, it’s Quickley, Ingram, Barnes, CMB and Poeltl.

Pascal Siakam back in the house. Wonder what he thinks about Dylan Cease.

Final game of NBA Cup group play for Raptors (3-0) tonight. Orlando (3-0) & Detroit (2-0) still have to face each other so only 1 can remain undefeated. Toronto can clinch a top-2 seed & home court in the QF today with a win over Indiana AND a Milwaukee (2-0) loss to Miami (Giannis is questionable).