PORTLAND, Ore. — Jalen Brunson had 26 points and the New York Knicks snapped the Portland Trail Blazers’ five-game winning streak with a 123-114 victory Sunday. <\/p>\n
OG Anunoby added 24 points, Karl-Anthony Towns had 20 points and 11 rebounds and Mikal Bridges finished with 18 points, six assists and six rebounds. The Knicks had lost five of their previous six games. <\/p>\n
Deni Avdija had 25 points for the Blazers but in the final moments he grabbed his back after going up for a rebound and headed for the locker room. The extent of the injury was not known. <\/p>\n
The Knicks led by 10 points in the third quarter, but Portland tied it at 92 on a dunk from Robert Williams III early in the fourth and pulled in front on Avdija’s floater and free throw. <\/p>\n
The teams traded the lead until Miles McBride’s pullup 3-pointer put the Knicks on top 109-104 with 3:47 left. New York stretched the lead to 117-107 on Brunson’s 3 with 2:23 to go and Portland couldn’t catch up. <\/p>\n
The Knicks saw the return of starting forward Josh Hart, who hasn’t played since injuring his ankle on Christmas Day. He finished with 18 points. <\/p>\n
The Blazers got back guard Jrue Holiday, who hasn’t played since mid-November because of a calf injury. He averaged 16.7 points and a career-high 8.3 assists this season before the injury. Holiday had eight points in 16 minutes against the Knicks. <\/p>\n
The first half was close throughout, with Hart playing 14 minutes with 12 points in his return. The Knicks began to pull away in the final minutes, going up 60-54 on Karl-Anthony Towns’ basket. <\/p>\n
Jalen Brunson’s running layup put New York up 72-62 early in the third quarter but the Blazers chipped away, pulling within 90-88 early in the fourth. <\/p>\n
Knicks: At Sacramento on Wednesday night. <\/p>\n
Trail Blazers: At Golden State on Tuesday night. <\/p>\n
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