Anfernee Simons scored 30 points (18 on 6 3-pointers), and the Portland Trail Blazers rallied from 23 points down in the third quarter to beat the New York Knicks 112-103.
The Trail Blazers trailed 79-56 with 5:22 left in the third quarter. They were still down 82-59 with 4:37 left in the third quarter, with a 4.2% chance to win, and outscored the Knicks 53-21 the rest of the way.
During clutch time, the Trail Blazers outscored the Knicks 15-5. Jusuf Nurkić scored 4 of the Trail Blazers’ 15 on 2 for 4 shooting.
Josh Hart scored 23 points (10 in the first quarter) in his first game with the Trail Blazers, and Nurkić added 12 points, 20 rebounds and 6 assists.
For the Knicks, Julius Randle had 28 points, 16 rebounds and 6 assists, and Evan Fournier went 1 for 10 from 3. Kemba Walker scored 23 points. Quentin Grimes scored 20 points on 6 for 10 shooting. The Knicks had 3 20-point scorers.
The Trail Blazers shot 47.6% from the field and 37.5% from 3 to the Knicks’ 38.3% and 30.8%. The Knicks got 9 offensive rebounds, about 4 fewer than usual for the shots they missed. The Trail Blazers outscored the Knicks 48-28 in the paint. The Trail Blazers outscored the Knicks 26-5 in 8 minutes with McLemore, Nurkić, Winslow, Hart and Simons on the floor together. Taj Gibson fouled out.