Trail Blazers 132, Knicks 129 (OT): Scenes from a lot of fouling

Nov 26, 2022 - 3:38 AM

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The Portland Trail Blazers shot 51 free throws, which was enough to hold off the New York Knicks on this Friday evening, 132-127 in overtime. I don’t want to blame the refs for this loss — RJ Barrett and Julius Randle were horrific on the defensive end and not much better on offense, and the Blazers took advantage.

The Knicks took a late lead thanks to the brilliant post maneuvering of Jalen Brunson. Though he was being guarded by Justise Winslow, who is several inches taller and built like a brick shit house, Brunson put on a master class down low.

Unfortunately, Brunson just missed on the game-winner, a floater in the lane that he usually makes. Such is life. The Blazers took an eight-point lead in the first few minutes of overtime, and grinded out the rest of the period to hold on to the win.

In many ways, this was reminiscent of last year’s Knicks: they blew a 14-point lead, the bench was more effective than the starters, and Thibs got out-coached by his counterpart, Chauncey Billups.

Tomorrow’s my daughter’s birthday, so I might not have time to write the recap. Happy birthday, Nora!