By The Canadian Press

Toronto Raptors keep learning hard lessons against NBA’s top 10 teams

Mar 4, 2026 | 2:00 AM

TORONTO — Every time the Toronto Raptors suffer another loss to a top-10 team, they talk about lessons and process and patience.

But Brandon Ingram also can’t deny that it’s annoying.

“When you fall short, you always get frustrated, especially in the moment,” said Ingram after putting up 31 points in Toronto’s 111-95 loss to the New York Knicks on Tuesday. “But frustration isn’t always bad, you know? There’s something to learn in every single game.

“Tonight was having some lapses on defence and trying to figure out our fourth-quarter execution. But every game that we go to, we get better, and we’re learning, trying to learn how to win.”

They have been hard — and frequent — lessons.

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The Raptors (35-26), fifth in the Eastern Conference, dropped to 4-16 against the 10 teams that are ahead of them in the NBA’s standings. Toronto is 1-12 at Scotiabank Arena against opponents with better records and has lost 14 of its last 15 games against top-10 teams.

“We’ve got to figure out our fourth-quarter execution, exactly what we want to go to,” said Ingram. “I think every time we play a good team, they know exactly what they want to go to in the fourth quarter, and they do it over again and over again.

“The good thing is we’re in the games, but we’ve got to figure out how to finish the game.”

Raptors guard Immanuel Quickley scored an eight-foot running pull-up shot with 5:50 left to play and cut New York’s lead to 95-93. The Knicks responded with a 16-2 run to close out the game for a decisive victory.

“We had our chances. We had our opportunities,” said Toronto head coach Darko Rajakovic. “This is a really good team, a really good offensive rebounding team. We kept them to seven rebounds. A lot of positive stuff.

“We’re just going to get back to work and continue getting better.”

Jalen Brunson finished with 26 points and 10 assists as New York (40-22) won its third consecutive game. Karl-Anthony Towns added 21 points with 13 rebounds.

Quickley had a double-double with 13 points and 12 assists for the Raptors and RJ Barrett of Mississauga, Ont., scored 20, with nine points in the fourth quarter.

“We couldn’t really get our offence going the way we wanted to in the last couple minutes,” said starting centre Jakob Poeltl. “It’s another learning experience for us to be better in those situations.

“They’re a team that has playoff experience and stuff like that. They’re used to these kind of situations, and I feel like we’re getting there, but we’re obviously not on that level yet.”

Rookie centre Collin Murray-Boyles, who has earned 22 starts with the Raptors this season, sat out with a left thumb sprain. Rajakovic said his presence was missed throughout the game.

“His ability to rebound the ball, his ability to run in transition and provide us an outlet on the baseline,” said Rajakovic. “He’s setting really good screens, good roller.

“Defensively, he’s a guy who can pick up on any matchup and does a really good job of that. He was missed tonight, big time.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 4, 2026.

John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press