Anything But Easy

Against a scrappy Blazers squad, the Knicks and their point guard did what they had to do to start the road trip with a win

Good morning. Fun game in Portland, featuring an all-world scoring night from the one and only Jalen Brunson, but before we get to any of that, on behalf of the entire KFS family, I’d like to offer my deepest condolences to RJ Barrett and the Barrett family after the passing of his younger brother Nathan yesterday. Words can’t express the sorrow that all of Knicks nation feels over the loss of someone who was just 20 years old. RJ & fam, we’re all with you in spirit.

Game 66: Knicks 105, Blazers 93

In a New York minute…

The first quarter was topsy turvy, featuring a 10-0 Knicks run followed by a 17-3 Portland push thanks to some sloppy play from the visitors. After that, New York settled down and made a big second quarter rally behind a Brunson / McBride backcourt combo. The second half started slowly for both teams, but the Knicks eventually pushed their advantage to 22 late in the third. The fourth quarter was more tense than it should have been, but behind a superstar performance from their point guard, New York got the win it absolutely had to have on this trip.

Three Things

1. Too close for comfort. What a weird, weird game.

From the end of the second quarter until the final buzzer, New York’s lead never dropped below nine points. For most of the second half, the advantage was closer to 20 than 10. Considering the 19-win Blazers were missing Jerami Grant, Anfernee Simons, Malcolm Brogdon and Shaedon Sharpe, it’s not like the odds of a comeback were very high.

And yet, at almost no point during this game would you have used the word “comfortable” to describe the state of affairs.

For one, Portland fought like hell on defense, scoring 18 points on 15 Knick turnovers and being as physical as the refs would allow them to be. They also got the benefit of an ice cold shooting night from the road team, as New York made just 20.7 percent of their 29 attempts from long range.

Prior to last night, the Knicks had just four wins in the Thibs era when shooting that poorly from deep. The abysmal 3-point performance was by far the biggest reason this didn’t turn into a blowout.

Alas, they still found a way, because that is what they do. Four starters had to play at least 36 minutes in the process, but at this point in the season, no one has any right to complain. That’s especially true when one guy in particular is in the midst of the greatest season for a Knick guard in over half a century…