RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley only had to wait three weeks to return to Madison Square Garden with the Toronto Raptors and get closure on their stints with the New York Knicks. It will take a little bit longer to determine if the trade that sent Barrett and Quickley to the Raptors was the move that helped turn the Knicks from a uniquely consistent and intriguing team into a legitimate NBA title contender. The early returns on the trade have been encouraging for the Knicks, who will try to continue their January surge Saturday night when they host the Raptors in a battle of Atlantic Division rivals. Both teams were off Friday after playing at home Thursday, when the Knicks edged the Washington Wizards 113-109 and the Raptors fell to the Chicago Bulls 116-110. The win was the eighth in 10 games this month for the Knicks, whose run began with the activation of OG Anunoby after he was acquired along with Precious Achiuwa and Malachi Flynn on Dec. 30 in exchange for Barrett, Quickley and a 2024 second-round draft pick. Anunoby is averaging 15.0 points per game while shooting 51.9 percent from the field and 43.5 percent from 3-point land for the Knicks. But Anunoby, who was named to the NBA's All-Defensive second team last season, has been particularly effective on that end, where New York is holding opponents to 101 points per game over the last 10 games, down drastically from the 113.9 points per game it surrendered over the first 32 contests, and the best mark in the NBA over that time period. We like the Knicks to show up here and prove they got the best of the trade between the two teams, let's lay it with the Knicks here.