{"id":595221,"date":"2026-04-10T17:35:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T17:35:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/595221\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T17:35:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T17:35:10","slug":"toronto-raptors-aim-to-clinch-playoff-berth-against-new-york-knicks-tonight-on-tsn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/595221\/","title":{"rendered":"Toronto Raptors aim to clinch playoff berth against New York Knicks tonight on TSN"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Toronto Raptors<\/a> took a massive step toward clinching a top-six spot with their double-digit victory over the Miami Heat<\/a> Thursday night. Friday night, they\u2019ll have the opportunity to lock down a playoff spot for the first time in four years in New York against the Knicks.<\/p>\n

Watch the Raptors take on the Knicks at 7:30 p.m. ET\/4:30 p.m. PT on TSN3, TSN4, TSN.ca and the TSN App<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Raptors swept the season series with back-to-back wins against the Heat this week, taking Tuesday\u2019s matchup 121-95 and last night\u2019s 128-114. Currently, they occupy the fifth spot at 45-35 with two games to go and have won three of their past four.<\/p>\n

The Atlanta Hawks<\/a> own the same record as Toronto, but the Raptors have the tiebreaker. If things ended right now, the Raptors would play the fourth-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers<\/a> in the opening round of the NBA Playoffs, while the Hawks would take on the Knicks, leaving the Orlando Magic<\/a> (44-36), Philadelphia 76ers<\/a> (43-37), Charlotte Hornets<\/a> (43-37) and Miami Heat<\/a> (41-39) in next week\u2019s Play-In Tournament. The Raptors also hold the tiebreaker over the Magic and are a full two games up on the 76ers.<\/p>\n

But a lot can change. And fast.<\/p>\n

A win over the next two games gets Toronto in the postseason. A loss by all of the Magic, 76ers and Hornets Friday night would also do the trick.<\/p>\n

If the Raptors were to lose at Madison Square Garden Friday night, suddenly a Raptors-Knicks first round becomes likely, assuming the Raps are able to beat the lowly Brooklyn Nets<\/a> to close out the season on Sunday. Unless the Hawks win both games and the Raps don\u2019t, in which case Atlanta will slide into the fifth seed and take on the Cavs, who sit a game behind the third-place Knicks.<\/p>\n

Friday\u2019s game at MSG is consequential for the Knicks as well. A win from New York would go a long way toward securing Toronto as their first-round opponent, which may be exactly what Jalen Brunson<\/a> and Co. are hoping for.<\/p>\n

The Raptors have lost to the Knicks 12 times in a row dating back several years, including in all four meetings this season. And those games haven\u2019t been particularly close, either.<\/p>\n

The Knicks have won this year by margins of 22, 16, 27 and 16. Three of those games have come at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, including the Raptors\u2019 Emirates Cup elimination at the hands of the Knicks on Dec. 9. Their most recent meeting at Scotiabank Arena on March 3 was close until the Raps went cold in the fourth quarter and were outscored 24-13.<\/p>\n

But if you ask forward Brandon Ingram<\/a> \u2013 who had one of his best games as a Raptor with a season-high 38 points Thursday night against the Heat \u2013 the Raptors aren\u2019t focused on who they may be matched up with in the playoffs, but rather on finishing the season strong.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re getting closer and closer to what we want at the end of the season. We just take it game by game,\u201d Ingram told reporters after Thursday\u2019s game<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI stopped looking at the standings and I just focus on how I can be my best self on any given night and just continue to be aggressive, find my teammates when they\u2019re open and get some defensive stops.\u201d<\/p>\n

Head coach Darko Rajakovic echoed Ingram\u2019s sentiment<\/a>, joking that travel logistics were more on his mind than the standings.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to try to beat Miami to the airport because our flights are at the same time,\u201d said Rajakovic. \u201cThen we go to New York and compete the best we can against New York.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Toronto Raptors took a massive step toward clinching a top-six spot with their double-digit victory over the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":595222,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434],"tags":[712,49,48,459,115893,82,96661],"class_list":["post-595221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-apple-news","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nba","tag-new-york-knicks-sports-basketball-team-team-statscom-18","tag-sports","tag-toronto-raptors-sports-basketball-team-team-statscom-28"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/595221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=595221"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/595221\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/595222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=595221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=595221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=595221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}