New York Knicks beat the Portland Trail Blazers 127-97: Defense leads the way

The New York Knicks continued to roll with a thirty-point victory over the Portland Trail Blazers, 127-97. New York has won five in a row, and this was the fourth time they’ve held an opponent under 100 points during the streak.

The Knicks built a quick double-digit lead behind their defense. Stops led to transition opportunities, and fast offense encouraged ball movement. So, New York flew out to a 15-point lead after the first quarter and went up by as much as 24 before halftime.

Portland managed to cut the lead to 10 by halftime. But the Knicks’ defense set the tone, holding the Blazers to 20 points in the third quarter. They dominated the second half, leaving enough time for the starters to rest.

Let’s revisit another great victory through the player performances.

Jalen Brunson made light work of tough Blazers’ defenders. But a lot of it came from playing off-ball and getting shots off in space. In fact, he would have had an easy thirty-point night if not for missing some bunnies.

Best of all, Brunson’s defensive efforts have improved recently. He’s moving well and using active hands to keep ball handlers from comfortably attacking him.

Here’s the player of the game, and that’s not only because OG Anunoby pumped in a super-efficient 24 points. Anunoby cooked off the dribble, mixing in scoring at all three levels.

But OG’s defense is the true standout of the night. Deni Avdija couldn’t do anything to score on New York’s shutdown defender. Anunoby didn’t even let the Blazers’ prospect get to the free-throw line.

He may have only scored 14 points, but I thought this was a step in the right direction for Karl-Anthony Towns. The Blazers have big men to throw at KAT, but he still dominated the glass with 20 rebounds.

Towns showed a mean streak when smaller defenders took him. He consistently overpowered Jrue Holiday to get deep post position before receiving the ball, making it impossible for Holiday to recover.

The Blazers didn’t follow Josh Hart to the three-point line. That meant Hart was wide open to receive passes in the half-court offense, and Hart didn’t shy away. He drove right to the paint, pulling up for jumpers periodically to keep defenders off balance.

If Hart’s three-pointer were falling, this would be a perfect night for Hart. He played aggressively on defense, too, setting the tone and energy for the whole team.

The Blazers defended Mikal Bridges better than most teams. He didn’t get as many transition opportunities or open looks from midrange as normal. Bridges never got into a scoring rhythm.

But he did everything else exceptionally well. Mikal’s defense was tough, and he made clever passes throughout the action. He played great ball despite the poor scoring efficiency.

I’m back on the Tyler Kolek bandwagon. The game flows fast and free whenever the Creator checks in. The defense kept leaving Kolek in space, and he beat them with jumpers.

The offense was on a roll all night, but the ball never moved better than when Kolek was on the floor.

It’s not just the defense folks. The entire vibe around this team feels like it’s shifted. I can point to examples of this across the roster.

KAT’s offensive woes haven’t fully turned around, but his efforts are making up for it. Bridges scored only 10 points tonight, but he found numerous ways to make an impact on the game. Jalen Brunson is playing his best defense since 2025.

The Knicks look like a team that can compete with anybody again. We’ll find that out soon, as the next week brings a tough stretch of opponents. The Lakers represent the first test. I’ll talk to you after the action, Knicks’ fam!