Knicks in league of their own with 40-point quarters

Early in the season, the Knicks have shown that when they are clicking offensively, they are almost unguardable.

During their 116-94 win over the Raptors on Sunday night at Madison Square Garden, the Knicks recorded 41 points in the first quarter — the ninth time this year they’ve scored 40 or more points in a quarter.

They are in a league of their own in that category.

Their nine such quarters lead the NBA.

Entering Monday, five teams were tied for next closest at six.

“We’re extremely comfortable,” Josh Hart said on Sunday of the scoring outbursts. “I think we’re starting to make reads and starting to play off each other’s movements and those kinds of things and knowing where guys are going to be and knowing certain spots. So we’re getting more and more comfortable.”

Jalen Brunson was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week.

In four games last week, Brunson averaged 28.8 points and 4.5 assists per game while shooting 40.7 percent from 3-point range. The Knicks went 4-0 during that stretch.

Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic raved about Brunson ahead of Sunday’s game.

“We had a discussion about that this morning in the coach’s meeting — he is the type of player that I can put in the category of Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic,” Rajakovic said. “Different position, obviously, but guys who are just playing at their own pace. You cannot speed them up. Their awareness is amazing. At any point of time they know where the hand of the defensive player is. What is the footwork, how can they get by somebody, how can they get to their sweet spot from the floor? How can they score from there, how can they playmake from there? And he’s elite at doing it.”

“He’s not the strongest, not the fastest, but his skill level and shooting ability is amazing and that makes him one of the biggest offensive weapons in the league.”

Mitchell Robinson is not listed on the Knicks injury report, meaning he is likely to play against the Celtics on Tuesday in Boston, the first leg of a back-to-back — the Knicks host the Hornets on Wednesday.

Robinson has not yet played back-to-back this year. Unless that changes, that means he will likely sit out Wednesday’s clash.