Knicks get back on track, stop Blazers’ win streak
Jalen Brunson had 26 points and eight assists Sunday, helping the visiting New York Knicks earn a 123-114 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.
OG Anunoby added 24 points and Karl-Anthony Towns posted a 20-point, 11-rebound double-double for the Knicks, who had dropped five of their last six. Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges scored 18 points apiece, while Mitchell Robinson pulled down 11 rebounds off the bench.
Deni Avdija's 25 points paced Portland, followed by Shaedon Sharpe's 23 and Caleb Love's 21, which included five 3-pointers. Robert Williams III chipped in 12 and Toumani Camara had 11 for the Trail Blazers, who had their five-game winning streak ended.
Leading by five at halftime, New York doubled its advantage on Towns' triple and Brunson's layup, forcing a Portland timeout with 10:36 left in the third quarter.
Trailing by eight, Portland pulled within three on Avdija's layup and Williams' second 3-pointer of the season at the 6:15 mark of the third.
Love scored the Trail Blazers' last five points of the third, trimming the deficit to 90-85 entering the fourth.
Portland began the fourth on a 10-2 run, as Avdija's floater with 9:24 left gave the Trail Blazers their first lead since the second quarter.
New York answered with an 11-5 spurt, taking a 103-100 advantage on Brunson's basket.
Anunoby and Miles McBride drilled consecutive treys to give the Knicks a five-point lead with 3:50 remaining. After Portland's timeout, Anunoby hit another 3-pointer, before Hart's layup pushed the margin to 10.
Sharpe's five straight points gave Portland life, but Hart's floater and Anunoby's putback sealed the Knicks' win.
The teams combined to make 10 3-pointers in the first quarter, which was tied at 34 apiece entering the second.
From there, neither side took a two-score lead until Brunson's mid-range jumper started a 5-0 New York spurt, giving the Knicks a 53-49 edge with 4:07 remaining in the first half.
Brunson's three-point play and Towns' putback layup gave the Knicks a six-point edge at the 2:12 mark. New York led 65-60 at halftime, thanks to Towns' 15 first-half points. Sharpe's 14 points in the first half paced the Trail Blazers.