Brunson scores 35 points as Knicks rout Raptors 117-101 to reach NBA Cup semifinals for first time

TORONTO (AP) — Jalen Brunson scored 35 points, Josh Hart added 21 and the New York Knicks advanced to the NBA Cup semifinals for the first time in three tries by beating the struggling Toronto Raptors 117-101 on Tuesday night.

Karl-Anthony Towns had 14 points and 16 rebounds for the Knicks, who will face Orlando in the semifinal round at Las Vegas on Saturday.

The Magic reached the semifinals by beating Miami earlier Tuesday.

Towns returned after sitting out Sunday’s home win over Orlando because of tightness in his left calf.

Mikal Bridges scored 15 points for New York and OG Anunoby had 13 against his former team.

The only team to reach the quarterfinals in all three years of the event, the Knicks had lost their previous two appearances by a combined 32 points.

New York is 11-4 all-time in NBA Cup play.

Brunson’s 26 points in the opening half were his most in any half this season.

Brandon Ingram scored 31 points and Jamal Shead had a career-high 18 but the short-handed Raptors lost their fourth straight, all at home.

Scottie Barnes and Ja’Kobe Walter each scored 13 points for the Raptors, and Jakob Poeltl added 10.

Toronto went unbeaten in group stage play with all four wins coming during a stretch that saw the Raptors go 13-1. They’re 1-6 since.

Ingram had 17 in the first quarter but the entire Raptors team couldn’t combine to match that total in the second. Toronto missed 13 of its first 15 shot attempts and finished 5 for 21 in a disastrous frame that saw the Raptors outscored 34-13.

New York led 69-52 at the half.

Neither of Toronto’s former Knicks was available Tuesday. Immanuel Quickley sat because of an illness while RJ Barrett missed his ninth straight game because of a sprained right knee.

Knicks: Play Orlando in the semifinal at Las Vegas on Saturday.

Raptors: At Miami on Monday.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

Toronto Raptors' Scottie Barnes (4) drives past New York Knicks' Josh Hart (3) during the first half of an NBA Cup basketball game in Toronto, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press via AP)

Toronto Raptors' Scottie Barnes (4) dunks as New York Knicks' Josh Hart (3), right, reacts during the first half of an NBA Cup basketball game in Toronto, on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press via AP)

Toronto Raptors' Brandon Ingram (3) drives to the net during the first half of an NBA Cup basketball game against the New York Knicks in Toronto, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press via AP)

Toronto Raptors' Jamal Shead, left, and New York Knicks' Josh Hart (3) react to a call during the first half of an NBA Cup basketball game in Toronto, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press via AP)

Toronto Raptors' Jakob Poeltl (19) is stopped at the net by New York Knicks' Karl-Anthony Towns (32) and New York Knicks' OG Anunoby (8) during the first half of an NBA Cup basketball game in Toronto, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press via AP)

TORONTO (AP) — Canada's ambassador to the U.S. for the last six years said Tuesday she's resigning next year as the two major trading partners plan to review the free trade agreement.

Ambassador Kirsten Hillman said in a letter it is the right time to put in place someone who will oversee talks about the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement that is up review in 2026.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Hillman “prepared the foundations for Canada in the upcoming review" of the agreement.

Carney noted she’s one of the longest-serving ambassadors to the United States in Canada's history.

Former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sent Hillman to the embassy as deputy ambassador in 2017. She became the first woman to represent Canada as ambassador in the U.S. in 2019.

Hillman helped lead the trade negotiations during U.S. President Donald Trump’s first term as deputy and as ambassador worked with U.S. and Chinese officials to win the release of two Canadians detained in China.

Dominic LeBlanc, the minister responsible for Canada-U.S. trade, and Hillman had been leading trade talks with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.

U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra said on social media that Hillman has been an “awesome and well-respected” contributor to the U.S.-Canada relationship.

“I value your friendship and wish you all the best in your next adventure. You will be missed,” Hoekstra said.

Trump ended trade talks with Carney in October after the Ontario provincial government ran an anti-tariff advertisement in the U.S., which upset the U.S. president. That followed a spring of acrimony, since abated, over Trump's insistence that Canada should become the 51st U.S. state.

Asked this week when trade talks would resume, Trump said, “we'll see.”

Canada is one of the most trade-dependent countries in the world, and more than 75% of Canada’s exports go to the U.S. Most exports to the U.S. are exempted by the USMCA trade agreement but that deal is up for review.

Carney aims to double non-U.S. trade over the next decade.

About 60% of U.S. crude oil imports are from Canada, and 85% of U.S. electricity imports as well.

Canada is also the largest foreign supplier of steel, aluminum and uranium to the U.S. and has 34 critical minerals and metals that the Pentagon is eager for and investing in for national security.

FILE - Ambassador of Canada to the U.S. Kirsten Hillman listens during a First Ministers' meeting in Ottawa, Ontario, Jan. 15, 2025. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP, File)