NBA: Siakam sets career-high 52 points, Raptors end Knicks’ streak
FILE – Pascal Siakam #43 of the Toronto Raptors comes off the floor after his team defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers in their basketball game at the Scotiabank Arena on November 28, 2022 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Mark Blinch/Getty Images/AFP
Pascal Siakam scored a career-high 52 points Wednesday night and sank the go-ahead free throw with 2:01 left for the visiting Toronto Raptors, who snapped a six-game losing streak and ended the New York Knicks’ winning streak with a 113-106 victory.
Siakam’s 52 points shattered his previous career-high of 44 points, set three times previously, and was the eighth 50-point effort in the NBA this season. He was also the first player to score at least 50 points at Madison Square Garden since James Harden had 61 points for the Houston Rockets on January 23, 2019.
Siakam also added nine rebounds and seven assists in helping the Raptors snap the NBA’s longest active losing streak. Fred VanVleet had 28 points, including a 3-pointer on the possession following Siakam’s go-ahead free throw. O.G. Anunoby scored 15 points and had the block that led to VanVleet’s 3-pointer.
A career night for Pascal Siakam:
52 PTS (career-high)
9 REB
7 ASTRaptors win in MSG. pic.twitter.com/j4pOldXvzX
— NBA (@NBA) December 22, 2022
Julius Randle and RJ Barrett scored 30 points apiece for the Knicks, whose eight-game winning streak was the longest active run in the NBA. It was New York’s longest winning streak since a nine-game streak from Apr. 9-24, 2021.
Randle finished with 13 rebounds while Immanuel Quickley had 20 points and Mitchell Robinson added 10 points.
Siakam scored nine points to help stake the Raptors to a 28-27 lead after the first quarter. He then scored 17 points in the second quarter, when Toronto took a pair of 14-point leads and carried a 63-53 lead into halftime.
The Knicks opened the third with a 13-2 run in which Quickley drained a trio of 3-pointers, including the basket that gave the hosts a 66-65 lead. Siakam then scored all the Raptors’ points in a quarter-ending 17-8 run to give Toronto an 87-80 lead heading into the fourth.
The Knicks scored the first five points of the fourth before the Raptors scored the next nine points to go up 96-85. New York responded with a 17-5 run and took a 102-101 lead on Barrett’s driving dunk with 3:21 left.
The teams traded empty possessions and the Raptors missed a pair of 3-pointers before Siakam was fouled by Jalen Brunson. After hitting both free throws, Anunoby blocked a shot by Barrett. The Knicks got no closer than four following VanVleet’s 3-pointer with 1:36 left.
Siakam broke the 50-point barrier by driving three-quarters of the floor and converting an old-fashioned 3-point play for Toronto’s final points with 15.9 seconds remaining.
