New York Knicks vs Portland Trailblazers
Game 14: November 22, 2016
Knicks 107, Trailblazers 103

Written by Eric Weinstein – @ericcweinsteinn
flagrant2blog.blogspot.com/ 

Well that was pretty damn fun.

In a highly competitive game against Portland, the New York Knicks came out victorious, 107-103 in a thriller at the Garden. This was the most enjoyable game of the season in my opinion, with Kristaps Porzingis leading the way with 31 points, which is his second 30+ point game of the season. Derrick Rose looked like his old self with 18 points and a bunch of highlight plays.

Brandon Jennings had his third 10+ assist game off the bench, and we finally had the Mindaugus Kuzminskas breakout game! Kuz had a modest 10 points in 21 minutes, but hit a clutch 3 pointer late in the fourth quarter. Damian Lillard led Portland with 22 points, and CJ McCollum had 16 points on 17 shots.

Takeaways from this game:

The Knicks can actually be fun.

Yes, you read that correctly. This was the best game so far this year, without a doubt. Kristaps proved that he should be the focal point of the offense, again. The plays he makes are absolutely astounding, but we all know that. 31 points and 9 rebounds for the 7’3 Latvian that just looked so easy for him. KP was rolling, the ball was moving, and the defense picked up throughout the game. The team was clicking on all cylinders tonight on both ends of the floor. It took a little while for them to figure out how to defend the Blazers, but the Knicks held them to 45 points in the second half, which is a good number.

Home game Brandon Jennings is different than away game Brandon Jennings:

This dude loves the Garden. Every home game the Knicks play, you can just see the joy that Brandon Jennings plays with, and the passion comes out in his game. The only issue with that is that I have to be afraid that he might pick up a technical foul every time down the court, but if he’s going to dish out 11 assists every home game, I’m cool with that. With Derrick Rose in foul trouble, Jennings stepped in perfectly, with highlight reel passes to Justin Holiday and Kuzminskas, and his continued solid play. The Knicks haven’t had a solid point guard in years, so it’s really weird that they have two now.

Down the stretch brilliance:

Carmelo Anthony had an off night tonight, there’s no other way to say it. In the past few seasons, if Melo didn’t have it going in the fourth quarter, they would lose most of the time.

This year, they have a 7’3 unicorn and a former MVP going to battle with him, and both of those guys stepped up. Rose and KP were big time in the fourth quarter and took over the game. Rose was getting the paint at will, and KP was hitting shot after shot. This team has the chance to be special if they keep playing like this, even with Carmelo having a rough night.

The Knicks protected home court once again and increased their home win streak to five games. Two straight playoff teams have been defeated at the garden this week, and another solid team is coming to town on Friday. The Charlotte Hornets may not have as much firepower as the blazers do, but Kemba Walker and Nicolas Batum can both fill it up, and Walker may finally make an all-star team this year with his excellent play this season. If the Knicks want to continue this home win streak, they’re going to need to move the ball and play defense like they did in the second half of tonight’s game. Let’s hope for another entertaining win, and let’s watch the orange and blue eclipse the .500 mark. 7-7.