The Portland Trail Blazers (12-8) go on the road to Madison Square Garden to take on the New York Knicks (10-9) in a Monday evening matchup.
Portland won for the fourth time in their last five games by defeating the Washington Wizards on Saturday by a score of 108-105. The Trail Blazers trailed by 10 entering the fourth quarter, but outscored Washington 35-22 in the final 12 minutes. Damian Lillard and C. J. McCollum combined for 56 points, and the team shot 51.3% from the field.
The Knicks enter Monday’s game on a mini two-game losing streak. They were defeated 117-102 by the Houston Rockets on Saturday.
New York jumped out to a 29-7 lead despite playing without Kristaps Porzingis and Enes Kanter, but they were thoroughly outplayed in the third quarter where they were outscored 37-13. Michael Beasley led the way for the Knicks with 30 points.
Projected starting lineups
Trail Blazers: PG - Damian Lillard, SG - C. J. McCollum, SF - Pat Connaughton, PF - Noah Vonleh, C - Jusuf Nurkic
Knicks: PG - Jarrett Jack, SG - Tim Hardaway Jr., SF - Courtney Lee, PF - Kristaps Porzingis (Michael Beasley if Porzingis is unavailable), C - Enes Kanter (Kyle O’Quinn if Kanter is unavailable)
Stat leaders
Trail Blazers: Scoring - Damian Lillard 25.4, Rebounding - Al-Farouq Aminu 8.1 (out - Noah Vonleh second at 7.8), Assists - Damian Lillard 6.2
Knicks: Scoring - Kristaps Porzingis 27.3, Rebounding - Enes Kanter 10.2, Assists - Jarrett Jack 6.1
Notable injuries
Trail Blazers: Out - Al-Farouq Aminu (ankle)
Knicks: Questionable: Enes Kanter (back), Kristaps Porzingis (back)
What to know heading into game
A little home cooking might be what the Knicks need as they are a completely different team when playing at Madison Square Garden compared to on the road.
They are currently 9-3 at home (7-1 last eight games) and a dreadful 1-6 in away games. New York is averaging 12.8 more points per game at home compared to on the road and giving up 6.6 less.
While Portland’s home record is slightly better than their road (7-4 at home, 5-4 on the road), their play hasn’t necessarily dropped off in away games.
They actually are averaging four more points per game away from home (101.4 at home, 105.4 on the road).
Courtney Lee has now shot over 50% from the field in four consecutive games while averaging 17 points in those outings. The 10-year veteran has played in all 19 of the Knicks’ games and is currently averaging career-highs in three-point shooting (45.2%), free throw accuracy (92.9%), rebounding (3.9), assists (3.1), and steals (1.4).
Trail Blazers/Knicks history
Portland and the Knicks have met 109 times in the regular season with the Trail Blazers holding a 62-47 advantage in the win column.
For the second straight season, the teams split the two meetings in 2016-17. In the past 19 meetings though, the Trail Blazers have come away victorious in 14 of them.
