Knicks blow big lead after water delay, then RJ Barrett closes out another game

NEW YORK — With about four minutes left in the third quarter, a leak in Madison Square Garden’s roof prompted a 14-minute delay. It was the very rare NBA rain delay. Water was gathering on the court but apparently the real damage was to the Knicks.

Fortunately for them, RJ Barrett again plugged the hole.

The 20-year-old budding closer again hit the biggest shot for the Knicks Sunday night, burying a 3-pointer with 34 seconds remaining to highlight a wild and unconventional 102-96 victory over the Raptors.

New York had dominated the visitors for the opening 2 ½ quarters. But upon resolution of the leak, the home team went cold and the Raptors pounced, quickly erasing a 10-point deficit and taking their first lead of the game with about 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter.

That set up a crazy finish, with the officials retroactively taking away a Toronto 3-pointer because the shooter stepped out of bounds, and Pascal Siakam inexplicably picking up his dribble on his drive to tie the score in the final seconds.

In the end, the Knicks won with Julius Randle scoring 26 points and Barrett (19 points) coming up clutch for the second straight game.

Every game is important for the Knicks’ playoff hopes or seeding but the Raptors represent, at this point, a unique category of significance. The worst-case scenario for the Knicks, although improbable, is falling to 11th and outside of the play-in tournament. The Raptors occupy 11th in the East and some theoretical upside with recent champions Siakam, Kyle Lowry and Fred VanVleet on the roster. (VanVleet did not play Sunday.)

With Sunday’s victory, the Knicks (27-27), seeded seventh, are now six games ahead of Toronto (21-33).

“Obviously we know what they bring to the table. They just won a championship a couple years ago,” Knicks rookie Immanuel Quickley said before the game. “They have a championship pedigree, a championship caliber team, coaches and players. So we got to bring our best effort. We feel like we’re a great team as well. When we’re clicking on all cylinders defensively we’re great, running in transition. We want to do all the things that has gotten us to that point.”

The Raptors were playing on the second night of a back-to-back and the Knicks pounced, taking an 11-point advantage after the first quarter. Toronto had no answer for Tom Thibodeau’s swarming defense and managed just 42 points in the first half while shooting 31 percent. The regression of Pascal Siakam (5-for-18 shooting Sunday), an All-NBA player last season, is bad news for Canada’s team.

But they still found form after the MSG roof leak and adopted a zone defense. The Knicks needed another heroic Barrett 3-pointer to recover.

The Raptors have been a mess all season, which is less surprising considering they’ve been forced to temporarily relocate to Tampa Bay because of COVID travel restrictions. Siakam, the team’s star, was fined $50,000 for heated words directed at his coach. Siakam was also suspended a game for leaving the bench too early. Team president Masai Ujirii flirted with tanking the season to land a high draft pick, and then traded Norm Powell at the trade deadline. Regardless of the circumstances, the Raptors remain in the playoff mix, albeit on the outside looking in.

“I shake my head all the time when I look down and find out we’re only two games out,” Raptors coach Nick Nurse said. “So that’s encouraging.”

Entering the night, the emergence of Barrett had been the positive development for the Knicks. His 3-point shot, in particular, had improved dramatically from last season, rising to 38.2% heading into Sunday. Nurse, who coaches Barrett on the Canadian national team, has taken notice.

“He’s playing great. He just looks a lot more comfortable to me out there,” Nurse said. “I think he’s certainly making less mistake-type plays. I think he’s playing more efficiently. He’s finishing better. Obviously he’s shooting it great. With confidence and comfort. Even hitting some late in games. So he looks like he’s found his groove and found a good comfort level.”