Jalen Brunson had 26 points and the New York Knicks snapped the Portland Trail Blazers’ five-game winning streak with a 123-114 victory Sunday.
Deni Avdija had 25 points for the Blazers but in the final moments he grabbed his back after going up for a rebound and headed for the locker room. The extent of the injury was not known.
The Knicks led by 10 points in the third quarter, but Portland tied it at 92 on a dunk from Robert Williams III early in the fourth and pulled in front on Avdija’s floater and free throw.
The teams traded the lead until Miles McBride’s pullup 3-pointer put the Knicks on top 109-104 with 3:47 left. New York stretched the lead to 117-107 on Brunson’s 3 with 2:23 to go and Portland couldn’t catch up.
The Knicks saw the return of starting forward Josh Hart, who hasn’t played since injuring his ankle on Christmas Day. He finished with 18 points.
The Blazers got back guard Jrue Holiday, who hasn’t played since mid-November because of a calf injury. He averaged 16.7 points and a career-high 8.3 assists this season before the injury. Holiday had eight points in 16 minutes against the Knicks.
The first half was close throughout, with Hart playing 14 minutes with 12 points in his return. The Knicks began to pull away in the final minutes, going up 60-54 on Karl-Anthony Towns’ basket.
Jalen Brunson’s running layup put New York up 72-62 early in the third quarter but the Blazers chipped away, pulling within 90-88 early in the fourth.
Up Next
Knicks: At Sacramento on Wednesday night.
Trail Blazers: At Golden State on Tuesday night.
