Knicks spoil RJ Barrett’s revenge game with narrow win over Raptors

TORONTO — Monday night was emblematic of the big trade from nearly a year ago.

RJ Barrett led all scorers. He was on the brink of completing a revenge game.

But then the player the Knicks got instead — OG Anunoby — came up with the game-winning play, a block on Barrett with 26 seconds left.

The Raptors lost.

The Knicks won, 113-108.

Barrett finished with 30 points but couldn’t get the one that mattered most, driving to the hoop with the Raptors trailing by two in the final seconds and getting swatted from behind by Anunoby.

Karl-Anthony Towns, who was struggling for most of the night, knocked down the two most important shots — a layup off a pretty feed from Jalen Brunson for the lead with 36 seconds remaining, then the dagger trey following Anunoby’s block on Barrett.

It saved the Knicks (14-9) from an ugly defeat against the struggling Raptors (7-18). And it cut off a big night from a former Knick.

Barrett has been producing this season at a career-best rate, a consequence, he said, of playing in a faster-paced system with more on-ball opportunities. Barrett revealed ahead of Monday’s game he was thrilled about the trade when it happened. He’d been catching hints from the Knicks that he was no longer in their plans.

“Lots of stuff [gave me the sense I was going to be traded]. Lots of stuff,” Barrett said Monday after taking a deep breath. “I think I just got a vibe, kind of figured. I wasn’t really too surprised when it happened.”

Left unsaid but likely a factor was that Barrett had gone from future face of the franchise to a distant third on the totem pole under Julius Randle and, especially, Brunson. By dealing Barrett and Immanuel Quickley for Anunoby, the Knicks created a lineup that gave Brunson the ball and further empowered his stardom.

The deal worked as intended. At least for the Knicks. Anunoby, who finished with 14 points in 41 minutes during his first game back at Scotia Bank Arena, proved his worth as a defender who can be effective offensively without the ball. Brunson became an All-Star.

“OG was different,” Thibodeau said. “His versatility and size was something we were looking for.”

For the Raptors, the sentiment around the trade on its one-year anniversary is more complicated. On one hand, the team was entering a rebuild and had little use for Anunoby, who would’ve probably left in free agency, regardless. On the other hand, the Raptors have been bad since the deal and Quickley is out indefinitely with an elbow injury.

The Knicks were coming off their worst home performance of the season, a 120-111 loss to the Pistons that occurred without an injured Towns. The center returned Monday with 24 points and 15 boards, including the clutch buckets in the final minute.

Brunson added 20 points and 11 assists. Mikal Bridges, who finished with 23 points, hit a corner 3-pointer with 1:37 left that gave the Knicks a two-point edge.

The Raptors were dealt a blow in the third quarter when Scottie Barnes, their second-leading scorer, got tangled up with Towns under the basket and injured his ankle. He was ruled out and didn’t play for the final 19 minutes.