OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges continued their late-season surges for the New York Knicks on Sunday night, scoring 28 points apiece to lead a comeback from a 14-point third-quarter deficit in a 110-93 win over the visiting Portland Trail Blazers.
The win was the fourth in the last five games for the Knicks (47-27), a span in which Anunoby is averaging 29 points while Bridges is averaging 23.8.
Karl-Anthony Towns (10 points, 11 rebounds) posted a double-double and Josh Hart (14 points, nine assists, eight rebounds) flirted with a triple-double for New York, which is 7-5 since Jalen Brunson suffered a sprained right ankle against the Los Angeles Lakers on March 6.
Landry Shamet (11 points) and Precious Achiuwa (10) also got into double figures off the bench as New York extended its lead over the idle Indiana Pacers to four games in the race for the third seed in the Eastern Conference.
Deni Avdija scored 33 points for the skidding Trail Blazers (32-43), who fell 4 1/2 games behind the Sacramento Kings in the race for 10th place in the Western Conference and the final spot in the play-in tournament. Shaedon Sharpe had 23 points while Toumani Camara added 16 and Anfernee Simons finished with 15.
Bridges sank a 37-footer at the first-quarter buzzer to give the Knicks their first lead at 27-25. New York led by as many as 10 in the second before Avdija scored 12 points during a quarter-ending 25-12 run by the Trail Blazers, who led 58-50 at the half.
Portland scored 10 of the first 17 points in the second half and took its biggest lead at 68-54 on a layup by Sharpe with 8:19 remaining. The Knicks responded by scoring nine in a row to begin their own 25-10 run. New York scored the final seven points of the quarter, taking a 79-78 lead on Anunoby’s dunk with one minute left.
Avdija opened the fourth quarter with a layup, after which Shamet put the Knicks ahead for good with a 3-pointer with 10:47 left. That began a 12-0 run for New York in which Bridges scored seven of his 13 fourth-quarter points. The hosts led by at least five the rest of the way.
