The slumping Portland Trail Blazers enter Basketball Mecca, Madison Square Garden, to face the surging New York Knicks tonight.
The teams are a study in contrasts. New York has won four straight even as ‘Giannis
Antentekoumpo for Karl-Anthony Towns’ trade rumors nip at the Knickerbocker’s heels.
Portland continues to limp through the season. After an encouraging start to 2026, the oft-injured team has dropped three straight games and was just outplayed by the Wizards, one of the worst teams in the league.
The Blazers will need to take care of the ball, control the pace of play, make free throws and start hitting some threes in order to have a chance of victory in the Garden.
What you Need to Know
Portland Trail Blazers (23-25) at New York Knicks (29-18) Fri., Jan. 30 – 4:30pm Pacific
How to watch via antenna or cable: See your options on the Rip City Television Network
How to stream: BlazerVision in Oregon and Washington; League Pass everywhere else
How to listen: Trail Blazers Audio Network
Trail Blazers Injuries: Scoot Henderson, Damian Lillard, Kris Murray, Duop Reath, Matisse Thybulle, Blake Wesley (Out). Deni Avdija, Robert Williams III (Questionable).
Knicks injuries: Josh Hart, Miles McBride Questionable.
Kit: Portland will take the floor in its white City Edition jerseys. New York will wear its black Statement Edition unis.
In the last week:
Trail Blazers: L vs TOR, L at BOS, L at WAS
Knicks: W at PHL, W vs SAC, W at TOR
Stat Leaders:
Trail Blazers: Points, Avdija (25.8 per game). Rebounds, Clingan (11.2). Assists, Holiday (6.8). Steals, Thybulle (2.5). Blocks, Clingan (1.3).
Knicks: Points, Brunson (27.6 per game). Rebounds, Towns (11.6). Assists, Brunson (6). Steals, Anunoby (1.8). Blocks, Robinson (1.2).
Tale of the Tape
Trail Blazers: Offensive rating: 112.9 (22nd place) Defensive rating: 112.9 (18th place)
Knicks Offensive rating: 118.7 (3rd place) Defensive rating: 112.8 (8th place)
Coming Attractions: The Blazers return home Sunday, 2/1 to face the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Storylines
The Biggest Star on the Biggest Stage:
Substitute Blazers color commentator, Evan Turner told me “I’ve always liked big guards. If Deni [Avdija] gets going, he should be the best player on the court.” As of press time, Avdija is listed as questionable. Here’s hoping the commissioner’s blessing heals backs.
A Bleak Trifecta:
Portland shoots a league worst 33.7% from behind the three-point line. It leads the league in turnovers with 16.9 per game. The team often seems as if it must also be last in free throw percentage, but in fact, Portland ranks 22nd, making 77.3% of shots from the charity stripe. It will be hard to win if the Blazers do not reverse these trends.
Like Moses vs. The Worm:
The two best rebounders in the NBA will square off tonight. The Knicks’ Towns leads the league in rebounding, averaging 11.6 boards per game. And, big ol’ Donovan Clingan is the second leading rebounder in the Association, averaging 11.2 per game. Cling Kong notched 14 points and 20 rebounds, including a franchise record 13 offensive rebounds in a loss Tuesday versus the Wizards.
Shooter Down:
Before undergoing season-ending surgery to repair a stress fracture in his right foot, Duop Reath’s 41.8% three-point shooting percentage led all healthy Blazers. (The next man up is Jerami Grant who is shooting 36.8% from behind the arc.) Reath came off the bench to pour in four three-pointers in a thrilling early season come-from-behind victory over the defending champion OKC Thunder before largely disappearing from the rotation. He’s expected to be sidelined for the rest of 2025-26. Get well big man!
The Oregonian’s Joel Freeman has more:
The 29-year-old has not played since Jan. 18, when the Blazers defeated the Sacramento Kings on the road, because of what the team originally labeled foot soreness. But subsequent medical testing revealed the fracture and Reath underwent surgery at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City.
The team called it a “success” in a release, adding that Reath is expected to make a full recovery.
What Others Are Saying:
On Lock?
In spite of the Blazers’ recent woes, Washington Post reporter Ben Golliver says Avdija’s play alone should power the team to the playoffs (subscription required).
Washington Wizards President Michael Winger maintained recently that trading Avdija (25.8 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 6.8 apg) to the Portland Trail Blazers was “not a mistake” because the Wizards needed to fully reset for a youth movement. Fair enough, but Portland has reaped hefty rewards from the most improved player favorite who should make his all-star debut in his breakout season. The Israeli wing has kept the injury-plagued Trail Blazers hovering around .500 with nonstop energy on both sides of the ball, applying constant pressure on opposing defenses with forceful drives and disrupting opposing offenses with an energetic knack for forcing turnovers. If Avdija can continue operating as one of the league’s most valuable wings, the feisty Trail Blazers should land in the West’s play-in tournament and compete for a chance at their first playoff trip since 2021.
Ready 2 Die:
Our own Conor Bergin caught up with two-way player Sidy Cissoko, the hardest working man on the Blazers’ bench.
The traditional box score numbers are modest — 6.0 points, 2.3 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 0.7 steals in 21.6 minutes per game while shooting 31.9% from beyond the arc on 3.2 attempts. But Sidy’s larger impact lies in the margins where he scraps for loose balls and pursues opponents around screens. He has drawn 27 offensive fouls, tied for fourth most in the NBA this season. He’s tied for the team lead as a three-time recipient of The Box, the honor the coaching staff bestows to the team’s best defender after a win.
“Effort is a big talent in this league. It’s a talent, and he brings it every night,” Blazers acting head coach Tiago Splitter said. “You know he’s gonna try to do the right thing. He’s gonna compete. He’s gonna box out. He’s gonna run. He’s gonna push the pace. Sometimes there’s gonna be mistakes, but you’re gonna live with them. He just puts his heart [out] there.”
Airing Out the Family Business:
Trade rumors swirl around the Knicks, and league sources told the Athletic’s Sam Amick Towns is unhappy the team is shopping him (subscription required).
And the leading suitors, the sources also confirmed, are the Miami Heat, New York Knicks, Golden State and Minnesota. But for those teams and every other Giannis dreamer that comes Horst’s way, the public nature of it all means this is incredibly tricky territory to navigate.
Just ask the Knicks, whose talks with the Bucks about Antetokounmpo last summer led to hard feelings with Karl-Anthony Towns that, per team sources, remain to this day. That’s the double-doozy that every team seeks to avoid — the failure to land the player they’re pursuing that is followed by a step backward, relationship-wise, with the player who learned he was nearly sent packing in the process.
Roll (that Wheelchair) Slow
On his No Fouls Given podcast, Celtics legend Paul Pierce had some advice for the Knicks.
“This is not a situation you dive in the middle of the season where you’re trying to contend for a championship. These type of moves are done in the offseason.
Tell us here. How can the road team escape New York with a victory?
