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Same story, different game. The lackluster Portland Trail Blazers gave no effort, and got no reward, getting blown out by 42 (!) points. It's just another loss in what feels like the season-ending road trip. Jamal Crawford was held out of the game as trade rumors swarm him. The Blazers look very much like they're in the midst of the rumored internal mutiny, as there is no longer a serious attempt to win. For any other team, you'd wonder if the coach was getting on the plane tonight.
I'm again not bothering to list any leaders, since there are clearly none on the team right now.
The game started with plenty of back and forth, along with a few of the usual silly turnovers. Both teams were clearly trying, but couldn’t get anything started. The score was 14-12 NY after the first 6 minutes. But then it went boom. The Blazers didn’t score for the last 6 minutes of the quarter, falling behind 25-12.
The good news is that the Blazers scored 4 points in the first 2+ minutes in the second. The bad news is that the Knicks scored 12. Behind 37-16, Nate took a timeout, but it didn't help. Repeated steals. A five-second inbound violation showed up. Then, as Luke Babbitt entered, a 24-second violation. Soon, it was 47-21 NY with 4 minutes left in the half. More Blazer hilarity ended with a 55-29 halftime deficit.
The lead reached 30 with 10 minutes left in the third quarter. On a Knick fast break, Camby was nearly tossed for bodying a player into the front row on a fast break. That energized the Blazers a bit, as new Knicks coach Mike Woodson called timeout as the Blazers cut the lead to 27. Yep, 27. That was the highlight of the quarter. A late Blazer run pulled them to within 22 at the third quarter buzzer.
The Blazers cut the lead under 20 briefly in the fourth quarter, then the Knicks decided to try again, ramming the point home with a 43 point quarter. Enough of this game. Just check out the box score if you're curious.
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Blazers center Marcus Camby was called for a flagrant foul for annihilating Knicks forward Landry Fields. Here's the video. -- Ben
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Stay tuned for Dave's recap, which I'm sure will be interesting, and start mentally preparing for the next Blazer game, Friday night in Chicago. -- Tim