RJ Barrett scores 31, Knicks beat Trail Blazers by 30

Published Mar. 16, 2022 10:13 p.m. ET

Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — RJ Barrett scored 31 points, Julius Randle added 20 points and nine rebounds, and the New York Knicks beat the Portland Trail Blazers 128-98 on Wednesday night.

Immanuel Quickley had 18 points and Evan Fournier chipped in 14 for the Knicks, who snapped a two-game losing streak.

It was New York’s first win at home in more than a month after losing five straight. Their last Madison Square Garden victory was on Jan. 31 over Sacramento.

Jason Hart scored 17 points and Drew Eubanks had 10 points and nine rebounds for the Trail Blazers, who have lost eight of nine and six in a row on the road.

Barrett scored 21 points on 8-for-14 shooting to help the Knicks take a 66-55 lead at halftime. New York outscored the Trail Blazers 7-2 to open the second half and extend the lead to 74-57.

Portland then took advantage of three Knicks turnovers over a four-minute span and scored eight straight points to cut the deficit to 78-70. But following a timeout, the Knicks went on 9-2 spurt, capped by Barrett’s dunk that put New York up by 15.

Eubanks found Keon Johnson on the other end for a dunk, but the Knicks closed the quarter on an 8-0 run paced by six points from Randle and pulled away to the victory.

TIP-INS

Trail Blazers: Reserve Kris Dunn scored 13 points on 6-for-9 shooting and added a team-high seven assists.

Knicks: New York went 0-5 at home in February. Wednesday night’s game was the first home game in March after playing the first seven games of the month on the road. They went 3-4 during that stretch.

UP NEXT

Trail Blazers: Will remain in New York and visit the Brooklyn Nets on Friday night.

Knicks: Host the Washington Wizards on Friday night.

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