Trail Blazers at Knicks
Portland star guard Damian Lillard is fresh off his third 40-point effort of the season as he leads the Trail Blazers into Tuesday's game against the host New York Knicks. Lillard's 40 points fueled Sunday's 119-109 win over the Washington Wizards as Portland improved to 1-2 on a six-game road trip.
The Trail Blazers began the excursion with losses to the Los Angeles Lakers and Minnesota Timberwolves before opening the game against Washington with a 32-12 run en route to the victory. "I think the way we played, we got the ball out and pushed it, we screened, our execution was at a much faster pace, which made it harder to guard," Lillard told reporters afterward. "We got them scrambling and helping." The Knicks are sliding in the wrong direction with five straight losses after falling 131-117 to the Orlando Magic on Sunday. "It's one quarter every game," Knicks coach David Fizdale told reporters of his club's woes. "If you go back through all of them it's one quarter where the doors get blown off. I can't put my thumb on it. It's different mistakes every game, but it's a quarter. Somehow I've got to get it to where we can get 48 minutes out of this group."
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NBATV, NBCS Northwest (Portland), MSG (New York)
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (11-5): Lillard is averaging 29 points on the road trip despite 25-of-70 shooting from the field but he is a stellar 30-of-34 from the line during the stretch. Shooting guard CJ McCollum is averaging 22 points on the excursion and has topped 20 points in five of the past eight games, topped by a 40-point effort against the Milwaukee Bucks on Nov. 6. Center Jusuf Nurkic was impressive as a passer against Washington while matching his career best of eight assists and also contributed 13 points and 14 rebounds for his fourth straight double-double.
ABOUT THE KNICKS (4-13): Backup guard Trey Burke is averaging 27.5 points on 21-of-33 shooting over the past two games after not even being inserted into three of the previous four games. Burke tallied 24 points on 10-of-13 shooting in Friday's loss to the New Orleans Pelicans and scored a season-best 31 against the Magic two nights later. "When my number's called, I can't be something I'm not," Burke told reporters. "I have to be the guard that I am. Coach (Fizdale) told me to attack. That's what I'm going to do. I can't try to please being someone I'm not. That's what I did earlier in the season. For this team to win, I have to be the Trey Burke everyone knows I can be."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Trail Blazers won both of last season's meetings and have prevailed in three straight matchups.
2. New York SG Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 32 points against Orlando for his second consecutive 30-point effort and fifth of the season.
3. Portland backup SG Seth Curry (knee) will miss his third straight game.