Porzingis, Knicks knock off Blazers
NEW YORK -- The New York Knicks won their fifth consecutive game at Madison Square Garden, knocking off the Portland Trail Blazers 107-103 Tuesday.
Kristaps Porzingis poured in 31 points, and Derrick Rose added 18 points and five assists for the Knicks (7-7). Brandon Jennings and Mindaugas Kuzminskas provided sparks off the bench by contributing 11 assists and 10 points, respectively.
Portland (8-8) received 22 points from Damian Lillard and 16 points from CJ McCollum.
Rose's jumper with 6.8 seconds to play sealed the win.
A 3-pointer from the top of the key by Kuzminskas gave the Knicks a 105-101 lead with 2:35 to play before Lillard's two free throws cut the deficit to 105-103 with 1:22 to go.
Rose gave the Knicks a 102-101 lead with a basket at the 3:15 mark.
There were four lead changes in the third quarter. A reverse layup from Lillard opened up a 79-74 Portland edge before Kuzminskas launched a 3-pointer for the Knicks to tie it at 81-81 with four seconds left in the period.
Porzingis had a big second quarter, scoring 12 of the Knicks' 32 points. His 16-foot jumper gave New York its first lead of the quarter at 46-45, and his layup extended the margin to 57-50 with 1:54 left in the quarter.
The Trail Blazers shot a torrid 52 percent from the floor in the first quarter and led 33-28. Portland hit 8 of its first 12 shots, including all three from behind the arc, to jump out to a 19-12 lead.
For the game, Portland made 44.2 percent of its field-goal attempts, while New York hit 46.9 percent from the floor. The Blazers had a 21-8 scoring edge at the foul line.
NOTES: Terry Stotts notched his 190th win as Portland's head coach against the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday, tying him with Mike Dunleavy for fourth-most wins in Trail Blazers history. ... The Blazers began the night ranked sixth in the NBA in scoring. ... Portland C Mason Plumlee and Knicks F Lance Thomas were teammates on Duke's national championship team during the 2010 NCAA season. ... Knicks C Joakim Noah missed his second consecutive game due to an illness. Kyle O'Quinn started in his place. ... Knicks F Lance Thomas missed his fifth game in a row because of a sore left ankle. ... New York had a 108 offensive rating over the previous five games, second to Toronto in the Eastern Conference.