Jalen Brunson scored 26 points and OG Anunoby added 24 as the New York Knicks rolled past the Portland Trail Blazers 127-97 on Friday night, extending their winning streak to five games.
Josh Hart finished with 20 points, six rebounds and five assists, while Karl-Anthony Towns controlled the paint with 14 points and 20 rebounds for New York, which improved to 30-18. Hart’s performance gave him 31 double-doubles on the season, tying Atlanta’s Jalen Johnson for the NBA lead. The Knicks won by double figures for the fourth time in their last five games and moved to 19-6 at home.
Shaedon Sharpe led Portland with 26 points, and Jerami Grant scored 15 off the bench for the Trail Blazers, who dropped their fourth straight game to fall below .500 at 23-26.
New York’s defense set the tone early, bottling up Portland forward Deni Avdija, who entered the night averaging 25.8 points per game. Avdija was limited to 11 points on 4-of-14 shooting and committed four turnovers in 28 minutes.
The Knicks took control with a dominant first-half stretch, ripping off a 34-12 run and building a lead that ballooned to 24 points. Portland managed to cut the deficit to 10 by halftime, but New York quickly reasserted itself after the break.
Seven Knicks scored in double figures, and the second half turned into a runaway. New York outscored Portland 68-48 after halftime, using a 14-2 surge spanning the late third and early fourth quarters to put the game away. The Knicks closed by outscoring the Trail Blazers 45-28 over the final 13:26.
Up next:
Portland hosts Cleveland on Sunday, while New York remains home to face the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday night.
