The Knicks took to the court at Madison Square Garden at 6pm on a Sunday afternoon again without their 3 top point guards — Jalen Brunson (severely sprained ankle), Miles McBride (sore groin), and Cameron Payne (ankle sprain) — and again unleashed DEFENSE and a total team effort to win — snuffing the Portland Trailblazers 110-93.
The Knicks 4th and 5th point guards — Tyler Kolek and newly acquired veteran Delon Wright — again manned the point guard position — but everyone took an active role in attacking and orchestrating — especially OG Anunoby (28 pts on 11-16 shooting) and Mikal Bridges (28 pts on 12-22 shooting with 7 assists). And don’t forget Josh Hart who was Everywhere on Defense and attacking and distributing on offense; he had 14 pts (on 5-10 shooting), 8 rebounds and 9 assists.
The Knicks weathered two runs by the game Trailblazers — in the 2nd quarter when Portland came back from a 10-pt deficit to take a 6-pt lead before the Knicks came back to take a 1-pt halftime lead, and then in the 3rd quarter when Portland went up by 14 pts before NY “woke up” and ramped up their defense, especially with Mitchell Robinson on the court.
NY entered the 4th quarter up a point, then continued the pressure D and rolled to the easy win with OG and Bridges and Hart and Landry Shamet everywhere. Karl-Anthony Towns had a quiet game with 10 pts on 4-13 shooting (and 11 rebounds) but the Knicks didn’t need his scoring with OG and Bridges going off.
It was also Walt Frazier‘s 80th birthday, and he was celebrated at the Garden and on the broadcast. Happy Birthday Clyde!
“I thought the defensive activity, intensity picked up,” said coach Tom Thibodeau afterwards. “Once the ball pressure got better, we got some steals, we got some blocks. And then we got into the open floor, got some fast break points… and then we got into a good rhythm.”
NY improves to 47-27 and are 4 games ahead of Indiana for 3rd place in the East with 8 games to play. Portland drops to 32-43.
1. Portland Jumps on Top but Bridges Heave at Buzzer Puts NY Up
Portland is an aggressive team coached well by Chauncey Billups with a core of good young players. They gave the Knicks a hard time a month ago in a game that OG won with a 3 at the buzzer.
They are led by Deni Avdija (33 pts on 14-25 shooting in this game) and have 7’2 rookie center Donovan Clingan (10 rebounds in this game) at center — he was the #7 pick in last June’s draft out of Connecticut. Their leading scorer is guard Anfernee Simons (averaging 19.3 ppg), and they also have the high-scoring Shaedon Sharpe (#7 pick in 2022, averaging 17.8 ppg) in the backcourt. The 6’7 Toumani Camara is their small forward.
Portland jumped out to a 15-8 lead in the game, before the Knicks started attacking and pulled back in it — a Landry Shamet 3 late in the 1st quarter pulled NY to within 22-20, a Shamet 3 with 23 seconds left in the quarter pulled NY to within 1, and a Mikal Bridges 37-foot 3-pt heave at the buzzer went in for a 27-25 Knick lead after 1.
2. Precious Leads Knicks to 10-Pt Lead in 2nd
OG hit a 3 early in the 2nd quarter, and then Precious Achiuwa scored 6 straight points on a jumper, a dunk, and a drive — and NY had a 9-pt lead.
Karl-Anthony Towns then hit a 3 and threw down a dunk and NY was up 10 at 45-35.
3. Portland Run Gives them 8-Pt Lead at Half
But this is today’s NBA of the 3-pt shot — and Avdija and Sharpe got hot just like that:
Avdija hit a 3 but Precious returned fire with a jumper. Then:
Sharpe hit a 3,
Avdija hit another 3,
Avdija hit a J,
Avdija scored on a drive,
Camara hit a 3, and
Camara hit a drive for 15 straight Portland points and a 53-47 Portland lead.
Josh Hart finally broke the streak with a 3 but Simons fired back with a 3 and Portland went into the half with an 8-pt lead.
4. Portland Takes 14-Pt Lead in 3rd
The Knicks pulled back to within 4 at the start of the 3rd on buckets by Bridges and OG, but Portland went on another run — this time 10 straight points (a deuce by Sharpe, a 3 by Sharpe, a 3 by Camara, and a deuce by Sharpe) — to go up by 14 at 68-54 with 8:19 left in the 3rd.
5. Knicks ‘Wake Up’ — Apply DEFENSE
And then the Knicks woke up — starting with a drive-and-1 by Karl-Anthony Towns, a Bridges 8-footer, a Hart J, and an OG steal and dunk — 9 straight points and a 68-63 Portland lead.
The Knicks continued to bring it — and when Landry Shamet hit a 3 with 1:23 left in the quarter, NY was within a point. An OG steal and dunk on the ensuing play put NY up 79-78 with a minute left in the quarter, a lead NY would take into the 4th.
6. Knicks ROLL in 4th
Avdija countered with a drive to start the 4th and put Portland back up 1, but that was Portland’s last hurrah as Shamet hit another 3, Bridges hit a deuce, a 3, and a deuce (7 straight points) and NY was up 89-80.
Josh Hart then stole the ball from Agdija and scored on a drive and NY was up 11 and in command.
Portland hung around — and pulled to within 6 with 4 minutes left — but Towns hit a drive, OG got an offensive rebound and slam, and Hart stuck a J with 2:23 left for a 12-pt NY lead.
Bridges then hit a 17-footer for a 106-92 lead with 1:53 left and ballgame.
OG & BRIDGES EACH DROP 28 PTS AS THE @nyknicks WIN 4 OF 5 🔥🗽
4 straight games of 25+ points for Anunoby! pic.twitter.com/CSJJ93LsV9
— NBA (@NBA) March 31, 2025
The Boxscore
https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401705648