Knicks 79 - 101 Trail Blazers
Final
  for this game

Blazers crush Knicks behind hot-shooting Matthews

Dec 29, 2014 - 5:46 AM Portland, OR (SportsNetwork.com) - Wesley Matthews matched a season-high with 28 points to lead the Portland Trail Blazers to a 101-79 win over the New York Knicks on Sunday.

Nicolas Batum checked in with 17 points, Chris Kaman had 13 and Joel Freeland deposited a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double for Portland.

The Blazers, who played without forward LaMarcus Aldridge (upper respiratory illness) for a second straight game, improved to 14-1 against the Eastern Conference this season.

Tim Hardaway Jr. paced the Knicks with 17 points, while Cole Aldrich finished with 12 points and career-highs of 19 rebounds and four steals for New York, which dropped its eighth straight game.

The Knicks close out their three-game West Coast road trip with a meeting against the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday.

Carmelo Anthony finished with 13 points and five rebounds in just one half of action. He sat out the second half due to left knee soreness.

"I think the guys showed some grit and some toughness," said Knicks coach Derek Fisher.

Matthews, Damian Lillard and Batum each hit a 3-pointer as the Blazers jumped all over the Knicks in the early going for a 16-6 lead. Matthews then buried two more from beyond the arc before Batum's triple made it 27-13 with 4:20 to play in the first.

"That's our thing. That's our game. We've had a long streak of 20-plus assists," said Matthews. "That's the kind of team that we are."

New York closed to within 31-22 after 12 minutes, but Portland scored the first nine points of the second to take control.

Anthony scored the final four points of the half and his night to cut the deficit to 55-41 at the break.

The Blazers led by as many as 27 in the second half and coasted to the finish.

Game Notes

The Blazers scored 16 points off 11 turnovers ... Lillard had 11 points with six assists in the win ... Portland improved to 20-2 when holding the opposition under 100 ... The Blazers shot 46.9 percent and limited New York to 33 percent shooting ... The Knicks are 2-15 on the road.






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