Raptors face daunting losing streaks against Knicks and Celtics
Toronto has lost 15 straight regular season games to New York and 15 of 16 to Boston, a problem as they aim to contend.
TORONTO — The Toronto Raptors' two-point preseason loss to the New York Knicks has highlighted the team's prolonged struggles against two Atlantic Division rivals.
Since December 2023, the Raptors have lost 15 consecutive regular season games against the Knicks, meaning for almost three years Toronto has not won a single game against them.
A similar pattern exists with the Boston Celtics, who have won 15 of their last 16 regular season meetings with Toronto since December 2022, winning four season series in a row and dropping only one game early in 2025.
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Adding insult to injury, the Celtics also beat the Raptors in their only playoff matchup back in 2020.
"Obviously, they didn't really have their guys out there on the floor," Raptors star Scottie Barnes said after a 50-point win over the Knicks' bench squad on Oct. 13.
He added that the win "felt solid though, win the game, but, you know, we got a game, we got tomorrow."
The day before that game, Barnes was asked about his feelings on the matchup in Toronto and seemed to struggle to find the words.
After a reporter clarified, asking whether being at home "gave it some added juice," Barnes finally settled on his response, putting it simply.
When the Raptors were a middling or losing team, falling apart against some of the best teams in the league was not a particularly big issue, but now that the team is trying to contend in a meaningful way, these patterns emerge as a real problem.
Journalist Noah Curitti noted that Knicks centre Karl-Anthony Towns had a monster double-double of 13 points and 15 rebounds, dishing out nine assists as well, posing a lot of trouble for the Raptors.
Being able to contend with Towns's combination of size and skill is one of the major factors the Raptors will have to manage if they want to be able to consistently defeat the Knicks this season, and in seasons to come.
Against Boston, the Raptors have upgraded both their offence and defence by signing Kawhi Leonard, and while he has not been the Defensive Player of the Year for a long time, he'll match up well with Paul George if Scottie can take on the Jayson Tatum assignment.
All together, the Raptors should be able to handle the Celtics' wings effectively, but the firepower of Boston's point guard Payton Pritchard makes him fearsome for the Raptors' starters, potentially forcing a more defensively oriented lineup from Toronto.
The Raptors are at a turning point where they may be finally equipped to handle the Eastern Conference's best teams.
Losing the same matchups over and over again can be extremely demoralizing, the negative effects of which are compounded by the fact that it's extremely likely the Raptors will play one, if not both, of these teams in the playoffs this year.
Scottie Barnes, and the Raptors, know what they have to do.
With files from Yahoo Sports and Raptors HQ