Ian Begley, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Raptors 118, Knicks 108: On the slide

How bad are things for the New York Knicks right now?

They'd need to go 32-20 the rest of the way just to equal last season's record of 37-45. That's certainly not what Phil Jackson had in mind back in September.

New York's slide into irrelevance continued on Sunday in a 118-108 loss to the Toronto Raptors.

New York allowed four Raptors to score at least 18 points and were outrebounded by 11, including eight on the offensive glass. The Raptors also torched the Knicks for 14 threes.

The Knicks have now lost five straight and 15 of their last 16. At 5-25, they are off to the worst 25-game start in franchise history.

Burned by the bench: The Knicks were torched by two Toronto reserves on Sunday. Lou Williams (22 points) and Greivis Vasquez (21) combined to hit 15-of-27 shots off the bench for the Raptors.

Those two outscored the Knicks bench (37 points) on their own.

The Knicks also got burned on the perimeter, allowing Toronto to hit 14 of 33 (43 percent) from beyond the arc; New York only hit 5 of 14 threes. Both teams shot 48.8 percent from the floor. The difference was Toronto's strong shooting from distance.

Melo leads the way: Carmelo Anthony poured in 28 points on 12-for-26 shooting and added five rebounds and three assists. The Knicks certainly missed the offensive production of Amar'e Stoudemire and J.R. Smith. Stoudemire sat as a planned rest day and Smith was out due to a plantar fascia injury.

Question: What is the most frustrating aspect of this season thus far to you?

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