Before today's game at Madison Square Garden, Raptors coach Dwane Casey spoke to his team about the importance of rebounding from "an emotional win against Houston" and avoiding a "trap game" against "a talented young" Knicks team.
His players clearly got the message.
REPORT: Brandon Jennings signing 10-day contract with the Milwaukee Bucks
Toronto followed up its 108-105 win Saturday AEDT, which snapped the Rockets' 17-game winning streak, with a 132-106 blowout victory over New York to extend its own winning run to a season-high eight games.
Jonas Valanciunas scored 17 points to lead the Raptors, who relied on a balanced effort offensively as seven players scored in double figures. Surprisingly, DeMar DeRozan wasn't one of them as Toronto's second-unit shouldered the load and spearheaded a strong second-half performance that blew the game open.
Takin' care of business. #WeTheNorth#BenchMob w/ 69p, 27r, 16a pic.twitter.com/3IIBJscR9i
— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) March 11, 2018
The Raptors led by just eight at the half, but took control of the game in the final 24 minutes as the bench upped the defensive intensity and kept its offensive production going. The second-unit scored a season-high 69 points and had four players reach double figures.
"They were playing harder than we were in the first half," Casey said after the game. "In the second half, we picked it up and got in gear."
C.J. Miles led the 'Bench Mob' with 13 points on five of eight shooting, while Delon Wright added 12 points and four assists in his return from a sprained toe.
Extra sauce pic.twitter.com/Dhme8uo9tW
— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) March 11, 2018
"It was good to have him (Wright) back," Casey said. "I thought Malcolm (Miller) did a good job. I liked what I saw in Nigel (Hayes). It is good to see what other guys can do."
Miller scored a season-high eight points and beat the second quarter buzzer with a corner 3-pointer that gave Toronto some breathing room at the break.
Hayes, a Wisconsin product who spent time with the G League's Westchester Knicks, made the most of his five minutes of action by sinking the first two 3-pointers of his NBA career.
🏹 @NIGEL_HAYES 🏹 pic.twitter.com/PdcoRIhkJ9
— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) March 11, 2018
Toronto's brilliant bench overshadowed a disappointing afternoon for DeRozan, who scored less than 10 points for just the fifth time this season. The NBA MVP candidate made just four of 16 field goal attempts and uncharacteristically missed one of two free throws, settling for nine points.
After the game, DeRozan said he was happy to sit the entire fourth quarter and watch his teammates have success.
"It's great," he said. "For us to be able to get rest will definitely benefit us in the long run. It's great to see those guys playing and for us to sit and be cheerleaders."
Tim Hardaway Jr. led all scorers with 25 points for the Knicks, who have now lost seven straight games and 15 of their last 16.
"They're playing fantastic basketball right now," Hardaway said of Toronto. "They're continuing with that momentum throughout this last part of the season and they're playing playoff basketball."
The Raptors (49-17) have already clinched a playoff spot and now lead the Celtics by three games for the top seed in the Eastern Conference. Toronto will return to action on Tuesday night, when they make the seven-mile trek to face the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center.