For New York, the only question that matters is who suits up. The group that started the preseason opener was Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart, OG Anunoby and Karl-Anthony Towns. If that 5 plays real minutes at home, this is a different game from Tuesday's. If they sit again, the Knicks' backups get a second shot at a Raptors rotation that just beat them by 50.
Toronto's frontcourt is the thin spot. Trey Jemison III and Jamison Battle were both ruled out of Tuesday's game with undisclosed issues, and Nate Bittle is still in a walking boot with a follow-up appointment Wednesday that could get him out of it. Chucky Hepburn is gone too, waived with a hamstring issue. None of that slowed Toronto on Tuesday, but bigs are what usually run out first in a preseason game played at real speed.
Tipoff is 7:30 PM ET on Thursday, October 15. Whatever the scoreboard says, the details are what's worth watching: how Kawhi fits next to Toronto's ball handlers, whether Tom Thibodeau gives the Garden a look at Brunson and Towns before the games count, and whether a Knicks team that's 0-4 this preseason cares to answer a 50-point beating at home.