Knicks Takeaways from Sunday's 116-113 loss to Trail Blazers, including Damian Lillard's outburst overpowering Immanuel Quickley's breakout

Lillard torched New York early, iced game late for Portland with eventual game-high 39 points

1/25/2021, 5:37 AM
Jan 24, 2021; Portland, Oregon, USA; Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard (0) shoots over New York Knicks guard Elfrid Payton (6) and guard Alec Burks (18) during the first quarter at the Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Craig Mitchelldyer-USA TODAY Sports / © Craig Mitchelldyer-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 24, 2021; Portland, Oregon, USA; Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard (0) shoots over New York Knicks guard Elfrid Payton (6) and guard Alec Burks (18) during the first quarter at the Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Craig Mitchelldyer-USA TODAY Sports / © Craig Mitchelldyer-USA TODAY Sports

The Knicks clawed back from a 25-point deficit, but New York was unable to fully climb out of an early hole Sunday and suffered a 116-113 loss to the Trail Blazers at the Moda Center in Portland, Ore. >> Box score

Five things to know from Sunday's game

1. Without Reggie Bullock, who was sidelined with a sore neck, the Knicks slightly tweaked the starting five. Head coach Tom Thibodeau inserted Alec Burks into a lineup of Elfrid Payton, RJ Barrett, Julius Randle and Mitchell Robinson.

2. After a rough return from injury Friday in New York's 103-94 loss at the Sacramento Kings, Burks bounced back. Burks scored 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including 5 for 8 on three-pointers, with four rebounds and one assist in 27 minutes.

3. Randle paced the Knicks' starters with a 25-point performance on a 7-for-18 mark from the field, plus 10 free throws out of 11 attempts in 32 minutes. Randle's night ended with an odd sequence with the Knicks down 112-109 at the fourth quarter's 16.6-second mark, which led to a pair of Robert Covington free throws on the other end that put Portland up 114-109.

4. A hot start by Damian Lillard's 15-point first quarter buried the Knicks, but New York fought back. Lillard, who iced the game on a pair of free throws with 5.3 seconds left that put Portland (9-6) ahead 116-111, paced the Blazers' early offensive outburst by ultimately dropping 39 points on 11-of-17 shooting. He went 6 for-10 from deep and made all 11 of free throws in 34 minutes.

5. Immanuel Quickley came to life as the Knicks made a comeback attempt. In 24 minutes off the bench, Quickley produced a new career-high 31 points, shooting 9 for 18 -- including five triples -- while he made all eight of his free-throw attempts.

Highlights

What's next

The Knicks (8-10) aim to avoid a second straight loss as they wrap up their four-game West Coast road trip with Tuesday's 9 p.m. game against the Utah Jazz (12-4).

Popular in the Community