PORTLAND — These days, most of the headlines about the New York Knicks have been about rookie Kristaps Porzingis. Saturday night, Carmelo Anthony stole them, playing true to his reputation as one of the league’s elite scorers.
Anthony finished with 37 points, tying a season-high, and made clutch free-throws down the stretch to power the Knicks to a 112-110 come-from-behind win over the Portland Trail Blazers.
Damian Lillard finished with 29 points, eight rebounds and four assists. He missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer that would have won the game after he chased down the rebound of his intentionally missed free throw.
“We got the perfect bounce, it went straight to the 3-point line,” Lillard said.
But the bounce to almost the exact same spot he hit his famous playoff buzzer-beater against Houston didn’t result in a welcome case of déjà vu.
“I definitely did have a little flashback when Dame caught the ball, he was going to turn around and put the shot up,” former Blazer and current New York Knicks center Robin Lopez said. “Obviously I’m pleased for my team that it didn’t go in.”
The Blazers were forced to settle for a reminder of recent history.
The Blazers are now 6-11 in games within five points in the final five minutes, tied with Philadelphia for the most losses in the league in those situations according to NBA.com.
CJ McCollum had 22 points and three rebounds but it wasn’t enough for Portland to avoid another blown double-digit fourth quarter lead.
Anthony gave Portland match-up problems and although Al-Farouq Aminu did his best on him defensively, Anthony showed why he’s still regarded as one of the game’s elite scorers.
“Carmelo is going to get the ball,” head coach Terry Stotts said. “I thought Chief (Aminu) and Moe (Harkless) did a good job on him and he didn’t get very many easy ones.”
Anthony scored 31 of his 37 in the first three quarters. The Knicks’ supporting cast (Lance Thomas, Kyle O’Quinn and Langston Galloway) each had turns making plays in the game’s final moments.
“Their bench was obviously the difference,” Stotts said. “They had 46 points off the bench contributed to the win. Even though Carmelo had a very good offensive night, he didn’t have a field goal in the fourth quarter. Their bench guys made the difference.”
Portland went 10-for-27 from the field in the fourth quarter, but allowed the Knicks to explode for 36 in the final period, mostly coming from New York’s supporting cast.
“We didn’t defend the way we needed to defend in the fourth quarter,” Stotts said.
“We didn’t get a lot of stops and I think our lack of offense led to some easy baskets in transition, didn’t secure rebounds, lots of things,” McCollum said of Portland’s fourth quarter issues. “Defensively, we have to pick up guys earlier.”
Lopez made his first appearance in Portland since leaving the team in free-agency.
He shared pleasantries pre-game with Lillard as well as several other Blazers staffers just before tip-off.
Blazers fans showered Lopez with cheers when he was introduced. Lopez finished with 13 points and seven rebounds, including a crucial put-back with 2:09 left to put the Knicks up by six.
“That’s was big, we needed that rebound,” McCollum said after the game. “Robin does what he does, he was aggressive on the boards, he had a timely basket for them that hurt.”
“I kind of feel like it’s the best of both worlds, it’s a special thing when you’re able to make a connection with a fan base,” Lopez said after the game. “I’m grateful for all the support I’ve ever received even now that I’m on a different team, it doesn’t happen a lot.”
While Lopez brought feeling into Saturday night’s match-up, the excitement came from New York’s top draft pick Porzingis. Anthony brought the substance and another familiar face made big shots late.
The forgotten player making his return to Portland was shooting guard Arron Afflalo. Saturday, he inflicted a little pain on the team he briefly called his own last season, scoring eight of his 15 points in the 4th quarter.
Porzingis, the 7-foot-3 Latvian, has put the league on notice, putting together tasty stat lines and even more tantalizing highlights.
But Saturday night, the 20-year old turning heads in the arena was wearing a Blazers uniform.
Noah Vonleh defended Porzingis early, forcing him into some turnovers and out playing him.
Vonleh, a month younger than Porzingis, outplayed the phenom, even stealing his signature move with a put-back slam dunk in the early part of the game. Vonleh ended the game with one of his more complete performances of 7 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals.
The Blazers got off to a hot start, powered by some hot shooting from McCollum.
The Knicks are not a strong defensive team, particularly on the perimeter, and McCollum and Damian Lillard were able to take advantage.
Then Lillard followed Vonleh’s ferocious put-back slam with one of his own over Porzingis who was simultaneously going for the rebound.
It was a rough night for the Knicks rookie sensation, going 0-for-6 from the field with three rebounds in only 19 minutes of play.
Portland led by as much as 11 and led by 10 after the third quarter.
But the Knicks started to make things close towards the end of the first half, with Anthony keeping them in it.
The Knicks started the 4th on a 10-2 run, cutting Portland’s lead to just two less than three minutes into the quarter.
The play of the Knicks bench as well as Afflalo’s, had a cascading effect and the Blazers just couldn’t hold onto the lead, yet again.
