The New York Knicks hosted the Portland Trailblazers last night as both teams faced each other for the second time this month.
New York won the previous matchup on the road, on January 11, 123-114. Portland was coming off back-to-back loses to the Celtics and the Wizards. The Knicks have won four straight entering this matchup and were coming off a win on the road against the Toronto Raptors 119-92.
In the first quarter, New York started off strong with a 10-5 lead led by OG Anunoby with two threes and Josh Hart. New York would also go on a 10-0 run during the midpoint of the first. The Knicks were on fire in the first quarter from downtown with five threes. Jalen Brunson had 13 points and a stepback three for a four-point play. New York was up 37-22 at the end of the first quarter.
The Knicks started the second quarter aggressively as Karl-Anthony Towns (KAT) made both of his free throws and Mikal Bridges got fouled on a corner three and made all three of his free throws. Tyler Kolek made a pull up three to put the Garden crowd in a frenzy as the Blazers took a timeout. The Knicks ballooned their lead to 24 leading 46-22.
Portland responded with a 16-5 run led by Shaedon Sharpe back-to-back threes during that stretch. The Trailblazers would cut the lead to eight off a pull-up jumper by Jerami Grant. Brunson responded with a three and the Knicks were up 59-49 at the end of the first half. Brunson had 19 points and Sharpe had 17 points and each led their teams in scoring at halftime.
Anunoby started off the third quarter with a quick 5-0 run of his own. Hart and Anunoby both had seven points in the quarter. At the end of the third, Brunson threw a lob to Bridges who made a layup at the buzzer. The Knicks were up 87-69 at the end of the third. New York made four straight threes to begin the fourth quarter with two being from Kolek, and one each from Anunoby and Towns. Anunoby had 10 points in the fourth quarter. Kolek subbed in for Anunoby and the Knicks crowd gave him a standing ovation. Portland dribbled out the clock and the Knicks won 127-97 at home.
The Knicks have won five straight and there have been a lot of things to like during the stretch. New York held four out of five opponents under 100 points during that stretch. Anunoby had 24 points, six rebounds, and four threes. KAT had 20 rebounds for the second straight game and finished this game a double double. Brunson led the team in scoring with 26 points and Josh Hart also had 20 points as well.
Shaedon Sharpe led the Blazers in scoring with 26 points. The Knicks defense held Deni Advija who averages 25.5 points-per-game to just 11 points during tonight’s performance.
I spoke with Head Coach Mike Brown regarding the team’s mindset and approach during the winning streak. Brown said: “Our guys have been good. We went through a little bit of adversity in terms of our wins and loses and our guys just kind of stay with it and we kept trying to help them the best we could. Those guys stay with it, they stayed together and this is a veteran group, that has been through a lot and they figured out what they needed to do to play at a high level and they’re going out and showing it.”
Portland will return home as they face the Cleveland Cavaliers this Sunday at 9 p.m. The Knicks will look to continue their winning streak as they host the Los Angeles Lakers this Sunday at 7 p.m.
