It’s only been 75 years since a team called the Toronto Huskies hosted the New York Knickerbockers in what is considered to be the first game in NBA history.
It was held at Maple Leaf Gardens on Nov. 1, 1946. The Huskies lost, 68-66.
It’s an oddly under-celebrated moment in league history or even Canadian sports history.
It could have something to do with the Huskies finishing last, going through four coaches in a single season, immediately folding and the NBA taking nearly 50 years to return.
Regardless, the momentous occasion was observed in Madison Square Garden with a match-up between the Knicks and the Toronto Raptors, whose only acknowledgement of their forebearers is a well-received retro jersey they trotted out a few years ago. “The Huskies, man. That’s awesome,” said Raptors head coach Nick Nurse. “Remember when we wore those Huskies jerseys? They were awesome.”
But what about the history?
“The significance of that for me is I lived right up there by Maple Leaf Gardens [now Mattamy Athletic Centre] part of I think, my first year in Toronto, and now it’s a grocery store. I went in there and I saw the sign on the pillar [commemorating the event] and I was taking pictures of that, going, ‘Man, that’s incredible. That’s incredible. Like, I didn’t even know that, you know, when I was there nine years ago as a Raptors assistant. So hey, pretty cool. We’re (in) a rematch. I think we owe ’em one, don’t we?”
You know what they say about payback. The Raptors got theirs Monday night with their most impressive win of the season as they reversed what seemed like a brewing Knicks blowout in the second quarter to dominate the second half on their way to 113-104 win, handing the Knicks just their second loss of the season and improving the Raptors to 5-3 with their fourth straight victory.
They did it without emerging rookie star Scottie Barnes and benefitted from a career-high 36 points from OG Anunoby who has found his legs after a spotty start. Fred VanVleet too delivered as he scored 13 of 17 points in the second half while adding nine rebounds and seven assists in 37 minutes
The Knicks got a 27 points and 5-of-8 three-point shooting from Canadian men’s team star RJ Barrett, who followed up his 35-point career-high from Saturday in fine style.
But it was a win for Raptors head coach Nick Nurse, who pressed plenty of buttons with perfect timing — from starting Svi Mykhailiuk (15 points on seven shots) in place of Barnes, to giving Khem Birch extra minutes ahead of a struggling Precious Achiuwa, to playing his second-half starting five the full 12 minutes in the pivotal third quarter.
The Raptors looked like they might lose even before the game even started. Barnes was ruled out just prior to game time due to a sprained thumb on his right hand he suffered in the final minute of the Raptors’ win over the Indiana Pacers on Saturday. He had an MRI Monday morning and went through a light workout on the floor of Madison Square Garden without having a splint or wrap of any kind on, but he was just shooting and handling the ball. He was ruled out shortly after.
“It’s just sore a bit,” said Nurse. “Nothing too bad.”
Beep beep… OG coming through.
: @Raptors pic.twitter.com/G5DLc8EyCL— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 2, 2021
But with Barnes’ 35 minutes to fill, there were opportunities for others in a Nurse rotation that has proven surprisingly difficult to crack.
The first beneficiary was Mykhailiuk who — coming off a strong 16-point outing against the Pacers — got the start in place of Barnes. It allowed Nurse to keep his second unit mainly intact after Nurse considered promoting Dalano Banton and Chris Boucher.
But Mykhailiuk didn’t exactly run with the opportunity — he didn’t attempt a shot in the first quarter and only one for the half when he converted a turnover nicely on the break.
The general lack of aggression seemed pervasive. Meanwhile the Knicks — who sat atop the Eastern Conference before the game with 5-1 mark and boast the league’s highest-scoring offence and a top-10 defence — got rolling early.
They knocked down their first four triples and were 6-of-11 by the end of the first quarter to jump out to a 34-26 lead as the Raptors were just 1-of-7 from distance.
The Raptors have struggled from deep all season — their 32.5 success rate heading into the game had them 19th in the league — but have relied on their ability to score off turnovers and offensive rebounds.
It took them a while to regain their identity in that respect and it looked like it might cost them the game.
The Raptors were trailing by 15 with four minutes to go in the half when things started to turn. It was interesting who helped it change direction.
Nurse went to Malachi Flynn with five minutes left in the half, paired him with little-used rookie Justin Champagnie and brought Birch in early for Achiuwa, who has looked lost more often that not after a strong pre-season.
The new-look lineup got rolling quickly: Flynn knocked a three and assisted on triples by Gary Trent Jr. and Anunoby. It was nothing fancy, but the kind of solid decision making that can carve out some extra minutes for someone in Flynn’s position. The Raptors closed on an 18-7 run and cut the Knicks lead to 57-53 at the half.
Nurse kept juggling. He started Birch over Achiuwa out of half time. It was an easy decision, really.
In a brief sequence before Nurse sat him down in the second quarter the second-year centre failed to push the ball to an open Anunoby on the break and missed the lay-up himself; lost track of Knicks centre Mitchell Robinson in the paint and surrendered a dunk and then barrelled into Robinson at the other end to kill another Raptors possession before it started. Achiuwa was 1-of-5 in his 11 first-half minutes.
It’s not like Birch is all-star material, it’s just the 29-year-old Montrealer completes his assignments, sets timely screens and doesn’t try to do too much.
He finished with just six points, but the Raptors were +20 in his 31 minutes.
The momentum continued to shift in the third quarter. Mykhailiuk began to look more comfortable as he followed his quiet first half with eight points and a pair of assists in the third. It’s what Nurse was hoping for from the fourth-year guard who has yet to find a steady home.
“Hopefully, he understands that we believe in him, right?” said Nurse before the game. “And for me, this is a long-term play with him. And understand we got a lot of confidence in him… he’s got a lot of tools, man. He’s got a lot of tools. He just needs to know that he doesn’t have to play perfect and even if he plays average, we’re gonna keep running them out there night after night after night and see if we can build some consistency.”
But there were plenty of contributors as the Raptors outscored the Knicks 38-22 in the third and took a 91-79 lead into the fourth, a 17-point turnaround sparked also by Anunoby and VanVleet combining for 22 points in the period. Hurrying the Knicks into six turnovers — to none by the Raptors — helped also.
The Raptors were able to hold on in the fourth, avenging the Knickerbockers win on the Huskies’ home floor so many years ago.
Revenge is best served old.
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