Obi Toppin carried the Knicks on Friday night, sparking a comeback against the Raptors, but ultimately he couldn’t reverse the team’s ugly trend in Canada. 

Even with a career-high 19 points to go with a career-high 10 rebounds from Toppin, the Knicks couldn’t fully recover after falling into an early 20-point hole and lost for the ninth straight time in Toronto with a 90-87 defeat at Scotiabank Arena. 

Julius Randle’s potential game-winner on a straightaway 3-pointer with 3.2 seconds left rimmed out before RJ Barrett missed a desperation attempt from beyond the arc with 0.2 seconds left off an inbounds play to seal the loss. That dropped the Knicks’ record to 12-14, keeping them in 11th place in the Eastern Conference. 

“It’s a shame not to come out of here with a win, but the way we started the game, it really hurt us,’’ coach Tom Thibodeau said. “Jules had a great look at it — in-and out. You live with that.’’ 

This wasn’t about a Toppin showboat dunk for Tik-Tok. This was an efficient, high-flying powerhouse game that kept the Knicks in it and legitimately raised the issue of whether the backup power forward either needs more minutes or needs to close despite his 3-point shooting woes. 

“He’s always been a confident guy,’’ Thibodeau said of the 2020 lottery pick. “There’s still a long way to go. His progress has been steady. I’m pleased with him. He’s got to work on being an all-around player. If he plays well, he plays more.’’ 

Thibodeau kept Toppin in the game later than usual in the fourth quarter, but it didn’t work out as he missed back-to-back 3-point attempts with under five minutes left, including an airball, while the Raptors wrested away control. 

Thibodeau finally pulled the plug on Toppin with 3:30 left. 

“They were playing zone,’’ Thibodeau said. “We wanted to add more shooting on the floor. Overall I thought he did a lot of great things. That’s how we got going — running the floor, hustling, his all-around play.’’ 

Without Toppin, the Knicks went even smaller. They rallied, but flamed out in the final 1:11 when they couldn’t get a rebound. 

Derrick Rose’s driving shot had put the Knicks in the lead, 87-86, with 1:42 left to cap a 10-2 run. 

But a three-chance possession gave Gary Trent Jr. an open look from deep and he nailed the go-ahead bucket to put the Raptors up 89-87 with 1:11 left. 

Toppin understood being pulled. He shot 6-for-14 from the field, but was just 1-for-5 on 3-pointers despite his myriad dunks in a 24-minute outing. 

“It’s not hard at all,’’ Toppin said. “Thibs knows what he’s doing. He’s been round a long time. We have great players on our team.’’ 

Not enough on Friday. New starting point guard Alec Burks, who had a tough night, missed inside with 36 seconds left and finished with one point on 0-for-7 shooting. The Knicks are 1-5 since Kemba Walker was demoted for Burks. 

And Randle finished with a modest 13 points as the Knicks put forth an offensive dud — 14 points in the opening period. Barrett, playing before close to 1,000 fans who bought tickets through his foundation, had a late surge and wound up with 19 points, but shot 5-for-16. 

Toppin’s showboat, between-the-legs dunk at Indiana on Wednesday only stirred the Pacers, but Friday he nailed his lone 3-pointer with 7:49 left that tied the score at 73. The Knicks just couldn’t sustain — another case of expending so much energy in a comeback. 

“We got to come out strong and with energy,’’ Toppin said. 

It was like old pre-pandemic times in Toronto when the Knicks fell behind 31-14 after one quarter. That couldn’t have happened last season because the pandemic forced the Raptors to play their home games in Tampa, Fla. The Knicks haven’t won in Canada since 2015. 

With Toppin flying high, the Knicks had a 29-9 rally with the second unit and tied the score at 39 midway through the second quarter. Toppin had 10 points in the run — with three dunks. Immanuel Quickley’s 3-pointer tied the score with 4:43 left in the half. 

“They came out and played harder in the beginning,’’ Barrett said. “They were into us and took us out of our offense.’’