This Monday, dedicated to commemorating Martin Luther King in the NBA, the curtsy and the birds of prey delivered an epic spectacle on the boards of Madison Square Garden to make the stars of Broadway entertainment blush.

Indeed, after a thrilling and tense regular time (just four scoring changes) in which the locals clinched as many as 10 points before being caught in the fourth quarter, the North snatched victory, their fourth five games, in the closing seconds of overtime, after a winner’s shot went wide Jalen Brunson.

A few minutes earlier, as the end of regular time neared, both teams missed valuable free throws (7 errors by each side throughout the game) to tie the Knicks’ point and secure the Raptors’ victory a Finished totally crazy. Underlined by a huge poster of RJ Barrett on Scottie Barnes (with a probable unannounced foul on the Canadian’s arm) to send everyone into overtime 110-110 after the Toronto winger missed a shot off the assist line that would have given the team a 3-point lead.

It’s like that during the five extra minutes of play OG Anunobyhowever, was taciturn during regulation time and donned the hero’s cloak by scoring two award-winning shots, one each Corner. Exhausted from a tight rotation, the Knicks holders lacked the juice to finish in the closing moments, like this too-short “gamewinner” attempt by the leader new York.

Despite the loss, only their second in eight games since the start of the new year, the Knicks remain sixth in the Eastern Conference, which certainly must make the result a little less bitter. For the Raptors, on the other hand, the stakes are much higher than their teammates Fred VanVleet won a 20th success, returning to the Bulls’ level, 10th in the conference with the same record (20-24).

WHAT YOU NEED TO NOTE

– The Special Fred VanVleet. Like many big players in the league, the Raptors point guard tends to put on one of his best performances of the year each season when he’s in the light of the mythical “MSG.” So also last night when the “FVV”, still (very) far from playing their best basketball this season, caused a lot of damage against the New Yorkers: 33 points and 8 assists! Including a 4/5 on shots and valuable free throws in the final act to fuel his team’s comeback.

– The Knicks, a fumbled offensive rebound and two missed free throws. That’s how, in hindsight, one could sum up this very narrow defeat for the Knicks, who certainly failed because of a missed shot by Jalen Brunson at the siren, but more generally because of small details. Including a missed offensive rebound that was caught by Scottie Barnes in the final minute of regulation while the Knicks led 108-107 and were able to close the game on next possession and avoid overtime. Really unfortunate for the ties of Tom Thibodeau who hampered the offensive rebound fight (20 to 14) throughout the encounter. There were also two oh-so-important yet missed free throws, one by Julius Randle and one by Jalen Brunson, in “money time”. Without those two misses, the Knicks were up two possessions in the last minute and likely survived that. thriller without going through the expansion box…

TOP & FLOP

✅ RJ Barrett. XXL match for the Canada winger, only the fourth since returning from injury. With 32 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists, he got his back momentum of the month of December and breathed good energy into his team on both sides of the pitch. We especially remember his 10/11 on free throws, symbolizing an aggressiveness towards the circle at all times to compensate for a more dangerous outside attack (2/9), and of course his huge dunk on Scottie Barnes’ muzzle at the last second regulation time to send the game into overtime.

✅⛔️ Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle. Good stats for the Knicks’ two usual leaders, but an efficiency that left a lot to be desired: 26 points on 11/29 on shots and 4 concedes for the first, 21 points on 7/20 and 3 concedes (but still 15 rebounds ) for the second. Their game has been good in general, but imprecise and chaotic compared to the tremendous standards they have this season.

✅ Pascal Siakam and Scottie Barnes. The two Toronto wingers were all over the place, amassing 46 points, 15 rebounds and 13 assists to provide the Raptors’ offense as Fred VanVleet’s relay. The first, even if he finally went after a sixth foul in overtime, defended himself quite well against Julius Randle and Mitchell Robinson in particular. The second was more offensive, and we saw him in particular, who, with complete composure and “trash talk” for the audience of Madison Square Garden, showed decisive free throws in “Money-Time”. Even if RJ Barrett, who crushed him under a dunk after a missed free throw, gave him his own coin back.

✅⛔️ OG Anunoby. Anecdotally, the Britain winger didn’t lose confidence during regulation time, particularly from too many fouls, and didn’t tremble as he scored two big prize-winning shots in extra time to create a comfortable (and ultimately decisive) mattress side. He woke up very late, but better late than never, as they say.

THE FOLLOWING

– Curtsy (25-20): Reception of the magicians, on the night from Wednesday to Thursday (01:30).

– Birds of Prey (20-24): “Back to Back,” in Milwaukee (01:30).