The Portland Trail Blazers lost for the eighth time in their last nine games on Wednesday, getting blown out 128-98 by the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Another 30-point defeat marks the seventh such loss of that stretch, one defined by the organization's overarching efforts to tank—and most manifested on the floor through Portland's porous defense yet again.
The Knicks shot 50% from the field, canned 16 three-pointers and scored 19 fast-break points against the Blazers. Their point total was the third-highest of the season, and New York doled out 31 assists—its second-most of 2021-22—while slicing and dicing Portland's defense in the halfcourt.
What hurt the Blazers most, though, was their inability to keep Julius Randle, R.J. Barrett and company off the free throw line. The Knicks went 32-of-39 from the stripe altogether, season-bests in both makes and attempts.
“Against this team you have to play without fouling, you have to guard without fouling, and we just couldn't,” Chauncey Billups said. “Even if we were hitting shots, it's hard to ever get a run when they're shooting free throws every time.”
New York isn't the only team that's victimized Portland at the free throw line of late. The Blazers' .37 opponent free throw rate since the All-Star break ranks last in the league by a wide margin, per NBA.com/stats.
Learning how to defend without fouling is a necessary hurdle for a majority of young NBA players, one that takes time and experience to clear. Billups can't just re-emphasize not fouling during Portland's next film session and expect his team to follow suit. That issue will almost surely be one that plagues the Blazers until the end of the regular season.
Don't worry too much about the viability of the franchise's tanking aims either way, though. Managing merely below-average offense was always going to be a problem for Portland with Damian Lillard and Anfernee Simons seasons' seemingly over. It's not like this team can hang its hat elsewhere on defense, either.
After surrendering 129.3 points per 100 possessions to New York on Wednesday, Portland's post-All-Star defensive rating is a hideous 123.1, per NBA.com/stats, 30th in the league.
“We were really undisciplined defensively, and they exploited that,” Billups said of the Knicks.
Don't expect much different from the baby Blazers over the season's final 14 games.
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