The New York Knicks defeated the Toronto Raptors, 120-103, at Madison Square Garden on Saturday afternoon.

The Knicks (34-27) are one of the hottest teams in the league right now and have extended their winning streak to nine games following a 17-point victory over the Raptors (25-35). New York built a four-point lead following the first quarter (30-26) and never looked back, as they also won the second quarter by just one point (34-33). The Raptors kept things close in the third (24-24) and seemed as if they would fight until the dying minutes, but the Knicks pulled away late to earn the ninth straight victory. The Knicks won the final 12 minutes by a 32-20 score and with the win, they're now seven games above the .500 threshold and marching toward the playoffs. Meanwhile, the Raptors' chances of featuring in the play-in tournament are getting slimmer since they're now 10 games under the .500 mark.

Julius Randle led the way for the Knicks with 31 points and 10 rebounds, while R.J. Barrett had a strong game as well with 25 points and 12 boards. Reggie Bullock had 16 points, while Derrick Rose added 19 points, seven dimes and four assists coming off the bench. Nerlens Noel delivered just one point but had five rebounds and four blocks.

The Raptors had three dominant performances on the scoring column, with OG Anunoby and Fred VanVleet leading the way with 27 points each. Anunoby also chipped in with five rebounds, three assists and two steals, while VanVleet recorded 11 assists and grabbed five boards. Pascal Siakam had 26 points with seven rebounds and five assists, but no other Toronto player scored in double digits here. Kyle Lowry had four points on 1-for-10 shooting.