The Blazers were supposed to win this game and they did. The Knicks are just coasting to the end of a forgettable season at this point, something many people expected the Blazers to be doing as well. But fortunately for us fans there's still some drama left in the regular season. The Blazers are now just one game behind the surging Denver Nuggets after taking care of business against the Knicks, 110-95.
Damian Lillard has been on a real tear ever since the all-star break, averaging over 30 points per game, second only to Russell Westbrook in scoring. He started out hot, bagging 14 points in the first quarter alone. The Knicks were without several key players, including all-star Carmelo Anthony and former MVP Derek Rose. Rising star Kristaps Porzingus put in a good night, but otherwise their team was unremarkable. Want to know what was remarkable? These signs made by this awesome Blazers fan:
The Blazers were up 21 points at the half, on their way to a relatively easy win. Fans were in high spirits. Here's some of the other folks I encountered during the break. These guys are brothers, born and raised in Portland. For some reason one of them is a Knicks fan. He said he just always liked them despite his brother's hometown allegiance.
These two just looked happy:
Same with these two:
This guy looked happy too! He explained that he had nearly died from an infection and that's how he lost his hands and feet.
These guys are Blazers fans, as you can see from their colors, though the one with the NYC themed sneakers is originally from New York. The sneakers were a little nod to his origins:
And these two live in Salem, but they like the Knicks because they used to live in NYC as well:
Check out the teeth! NYC baby!
Okay, the rest of the game should have been an easy slide into the win column, but the Blazers came out a little slow and the Knicks managed to close the gap to 10 points in the fourth quarter. Lillard and McCollum picked things up and made sure things didn't get any closer, but really the Blazers should have won this game by more than they did. Jusuf Nurkic continues to win admiration from fans with his tough play in the paint. And Evan Turner had his best game since returning from his broken hand injury. In the photo below you can see the funky brace he was wearing:
Afterwards the Blazers were careful not to get too giddy over this victory. They've got big games coming up Saturday against the Timberwolves and especially Tuesday against the Denver Nuggets with whom they are fighting for that 8th and final playoff spot. It will be interesting to see Nurkic square off against his former team that night with so much on the line. "We think we are a playoff team and we know that," said Nurkic. We shall see!
