Last night’s game is the first of two match-ups with the New York Knicks this season. The Blazers are 6-0 against the Knicks since 2012 when Coach Stotts took over the ship, but that stat doesn’t really matter since the Blazers are virtually a new team this year.

The Knickerbocker’s appearance in Portland also signals the return of one of our starting line-up expats from last season, Robin Lopez. Rolo wasn’t as tenured as Wesley Mathews, Nicolas Batum, or LaMarcus Aldridge when he left the Trail Blazers, but in the short time he was here, Rolo was a beloved member of the squad and the community. While Rolo was in Portland he did a series of literacy awareness commercials that were quite charming, he helped cut the ribbon on the 2015 Wizard World Comic Con with Lou Ferrigno, and he also comically roughed up mascots of opposing teams during warm-ups. He added some spark and personality to the team that was fun and refreshing.

I digress. Point is, Rolo is a quality player, and seemingly a quality human being. So, tonight it would be depressing if he gets the same kind of reception that Aldridge received at his homecoming game.

Why are Blazer fans booing people anyway? Aldridge and Kobe Bryant both got booed every time they touched the ball in their respective games at the Moda Center this season. Even when they only held it for a couple seconds and quickly passed it along, jeers could still be heard echoing through the arena.

I gotta say, Portland, let's give this trend up before it gets too out of hand. We don’t want to be the asshole arena full of booing poor sports. We want to be the rowdy fans who's noise and fanaticism rattles the cages of visiting teams. Yes, we’re all a little heartbroken that our line-up was gutted, and we aren’t off to the start we’re used to from subsequent years, but we’re still flying the same colors, and the same name is on the jerseys. The Blazers are a classy team with a classy fan base. We need to keep it that way.

MORE RECAP AFTER THE JUMP>>>

So, to be certain that we started last night with a bit more elegance, Rolo got a nice ovation when he was announced, and the Blazers’ Chris Kaman got to pick the warm-up music. You know what that means. The Caveman wasn’t gonna choose no slow grooves or hippity-hop. Nope! We got Metallica instead!! “Enter Sandman” would surely get our boys tough, and ready to steamroll the Knickerbockers, right?!

Sadly, that was not the case. The Trail Blazers had control most of the game, and led by as much as 11 in the first half. But, after four ties and only two lead changes, the Knicks squeezed out a 112-110 victory in the last two minutes.

Per usual, we put up a decent fight. Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum drained 29 and 22 points, respectively. The Blazers out rebounded the Knicks 39 to 34, and kept the turnovers in the single digits tonight giving up only 8. Unfortunately, Carmelo Anthony scored 37 points, while the Knicks bench had Lance Thomas, Kyle O’Quinn, and Derrick Williams all posting double digits. The Blazers pushed hard for the first three quarters, but the Knicks had the calm composure to finish the job.

Coach Stotts laid it out plainly in the post-game press conference.

“We didn’t defend the way you need to defend in the fourth quarter to win a close game. It’s tough to lose it. I thought we had good energy most of the game, but their bench was obviously the difference.”

Damian Lillard also had a similar take in the locker room after the game.

“We could'a done a lot of things better tonight,” said Dame. “I thought we played really hard. We should'a won the game. We went into the fourth with a 10-point lead. We played well for three quarters. We just didn’t get it done defensively.”