The 2023-24 NBA regular season has been a tough one for the Portland Trail Blazers. Entering their matchup with the New York Knicks on Tuesday night they were 10-25, 5-14 on the road. A loss was added to each column as they were quickly dismantled by a red-hot Knicks team.
It was a wire-to-wire loss for Portland, who trailed 12-11 with 7:41 remaining in the first quarter but saw the deficit steadily grow from that point on. 25-17 with 4:23 remaining after a Jerami Grant layup was the last time the Trail Blazers were within single digits as the Knicks romped them from that point on.
Portland trailed by as many as 39 points in the game as they couldn’t find success on either side of the court. Despite the Knicks not making a shot from the field in the final 6+ minutes of the second quarter, the Trail Blazers still managed to lose the quarter 25-19, trailing by 22 at intermission.
Ultimately, the Trail Blazers would go on to lose 112-84. After the game, Portland’s head coach, Chauncey Billups, spoke highly of their opponents on Tuesday night. One of the things that he commented on was the style of play the Knicks have.
The numbers would suggest New York is a team that will grind you down in the halfcourt, playing slow. To a degree, that is true. The Knicks are near the bottom of the NBA in pace and impose their will on opponents on the offensive glass.
But, as Billups and the Trail Blazers learned the hard way, that isn’t all the Knicks are capable of doing. Since completing their trade with the Toronto Raptors ahead of the New Year, New York is a totally different club.
“The #’s tell you they’re like 27th in the league in transition…But me watching their last 4-5 games I’m telling you…they’re playing fast as heck…” Billups said post game.
Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau admitted as much in his post game press conference. The impression around the NBA is that New York plays at a plodding pace, but that is no longer the case.
“People don’t realize; they sometimes say ‘Oh you play slow.’ No we don’t…” Thibodeau said.
The Trail Blazers aren’t the first team to fall victim to the new-look Knicks, who are riding a five-game winning streak, and they certainly won’t be the last. As Portland learned, the game plans and strategies for defending the Knicks in 2023 can be thrown out the window.
This team, with the addition of OG Anunoby in the starting lineup, is totally different. The proof is in the pudding, as the Knicks steamrolled the Trail Blazers right from the opening tip with their new style of play.
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