Knicks recover after blown lead to beat Raptors 102-96

NEW YORK (AP) — Julius Randle scored 26 points and the New York Knicks recovered after blowing an 18-point lead to beat the Toronto Raptors 102-96 on Sunday night.

RJ Barrett added 19 as the Knicks (27-27) won their second straight to get back to .500. Nerlens Noel finished with nine points, 13 rebounds and four blocked shots.

New York led 66-48 early in the third quarter but lost momentum when the game was delayed because the court was wet. The Raptors used a 37-15 run to surge to a four-point lead with 7 minutes remaining, but Barrett hit a 3-pointer with the Knicks leading by one with 35 seconds to play.

The Knicks snapped a nine-game losing streak to Toronto. New York had not beaten the Raptors since Nov. 22, 2017, at home.

Gary Trent Jr. had 23 points and Chris Boucher added 17 points and 14 rebounds for Toronto, which scored 87 points in the first half of a rout at Cleveland on Friday but found things much tougher against the Knicks.

Kyle Lowry finished with 19 points in his return to the Raptors’ lineup after missing five consecutive games with a right foot infection.

Toronto’s Malachi Flynn hit back-to-back 3s to give Toronto an 87-83 lead with 8:19 left. The Knicks then put together a 9-0 run to go up 92-87 on Alec Burks’ 3 with 3:34 remaining.

Toronto got as close as 95-94 on Lowry’s layup with 53 seconds before Randle found Barrett for his 3-pointer.

TIP-INS

Raptors: Toronto is 2-10 in the second game of a back-to-back this season. … The Raptors had their four-game winning streak at Madison Square Garden end.

Knicks: Elfrid Payton and Derrick Rose each had 11 points.

COMING HOME

Forward Khem Birch made his Toronto debut Sunday, a day after he cleared waivers. The Montreal native is familiar with Raptors coach Nick Nurse, who coached him on Canada’s 2019 FIBA World Cup team in China.

Birch had four points and five rebounds in 18 minutes off the bench.

UP NEXT

Raptors: Begin a five-game homestand against the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday.

Knicks: Close their three-game homestand against the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday.