Nothing changed for the New York Knicks against the Portland Trail Blazers, losing in another blowout.
The New York Knicks, in their second game under Coach Miller, are the same Knicks that were under David Fizdale. They were soundly defeated by Damien Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers, 115-87. This was the first time Carmelo Anthony went against his former team while on the Blazers. At first, he couldn’t make a basket, but by the third quarter he, like his team, was having a field day with the Knicks.
Using the same starting lineup as Fizdale, Miller’s Knicks are still not defending the perimeter. In the first quarter, Lillard had five makes from outside.
It looked as though the Knicks have just given up. Down by 19 at the half, they would be down by 30 with eight minutes left in the fourth quarter.
This was a game that was unhappily graded:
Julius Randle has a grade of B- strictly because he had the high score. The only difference between Fizdale Randle and Miller Randle is that the latter is doing more talking to his teammates. What could he have been saying when they were down by 32?
Being on the floor most of the game, in the fourth quarter, his team down by 30 points, Morris, Sr. had nothing to give. With 10 points and nine minutes left in the game, his contributions in addition to the 10 points, were only three rebounds. Shooting 4 of 11 from the floor, he sat on the bench and watched the annihilation.
Again, Taj Gibson started the game for the Knicks. He is not being graded because he didn’t score a single point and only played 16 minutes. Mitchell Robinson scored 14 points and had five rebounds.
Dennis Smith, Jr. is being graded because he was the point guard with the most points in this game. With five points, four points and no assists, his biggest contribution was a three-pointer.
After riding the bench for several games, Trier came out on fire and lived up to his “Iso Zo” nickname. Playing 14 minutes, Trier scored 12 points and had three assists. His C grade was because of his effort.
The Knicks are now 4-20. It doesn’t seem to be the coaches, but the players. The Knicks front office have some serious decisions to make during the trade season.
Other takeaways
- Damien Lillard made this game worth watching. He had 31 points just because he could. Shooting 60 percent from the field, the star guard was eight of 12 from three.
- Damyean Dotson played 23 minutes had eight points, including two from outside.
It may be too early to judge the new coach, but it’s not too early to see the Knicks are a team that needs a lot of healing. Down by double figures from halftime, they never even got close to winning this game.
The New York Knicks travel to San Francisco to take on the Golden State Warriors on December 11.