RIP CITY. NY 127 Portland 97

January 31, 2026 LouV 2025-26 0
Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby both helped to Shut Down Portland. Photo courtesy NY Knicks.

The Knicks RIPPED the Portland Trailblazers from start to finish — although they paused in the 2nd quarter a bit — winning 127-97 in a runaway game at Madison Square Garden on a Friday night.

Friday night Knicks.

NY jumped out to a 24-pt lead early in the 2nd quarter, had the lead trimmed to 8 pts before the half, but then resumed their blowout in the 3rd and 4th quarters to win in a romp.

The Knick DEFENSE held another team under 100 pts for the 3rd straight game and 4th time in 5 games.

OG Anunoby did a Job on Portland star forward Deni Avdija, limiting him to 11 pts on 4-14 shooting while scoring 24 pts on 10-16 shooting (4-8 from 3) himself, with a +34. Avdija has been playing with a bad back, suffered a finger injury in the 2nd quarter when his finger got stuck in the net (although he returned to action for the 2nd half), and had an off-the-court encounter with a fan over Middle Eastern politics the day before that made the news (Avdija is Israeli).

Karl-Anthony Towns ripped down 20 rebounds with 14 pts on 5-12 shooting; Jalen Brunson led NY with 26 pts; Josh Hart scored 20 pts; and Tyler Kolek had another excellent game with 13 pts on 5-7 shooting (3-5 from 3) with 4 assists in 18 minutes — playing backup point for the injured Miles McBride.

Mikal Bridges had 10 pts on 3-10 shooting with a +27 and was named defensive player of the game by Coach Mike Brown. Mitchell Robinson had 7 rebounds in 17 minutes, and Mohamed Diawara had his best game in a while with 10 pts on 4-8 shooting (2-5 from 3) and a +27 in 17 minutes.

Shaedon Sharpe led Portland with 26 pts on 10-16 shooting (4-8 from 3), while Portland’s bench did most of their other damage — Jerami Grant with 15 pts, Sidy Cissoko with 15 pts on 5-5 shooting (2-2 from 3), Caleb Love with 12 pts, and Robert Williams III with 11 rebounds in 20 minutes. Jrue Holiday was limited to 5 pts on 2-7 shooting in 22 minutes, Donovan Clingan was limited to 7 pts (he suffered a hand injury in the 2nd quarter as well as Avdija), and Tourmani Camara had 0 pts.

“Mikal was our defensive player of the game,” said coach Mike Brown afterwards. “It could have easily gone to a couple of other people, but Mikal was very good for us on that end of the floor with his deflections and coming up with 2 50-50 balls on his own.”

NY improves to 30-18, and remains tied for 2nd in the East with Boston, 5.5 behind Detroit. Portland falls to 23-26.

1. Knicks Jump Out to 24-Pt Lead

The Knicks came out with a blazing defense and fast-break attack, outscoring Portland 37-22 in the 1st quarter. They got out to an 8-2 and 10-5 lead before back-to-back Shaedon Sharpe and Jerami Grant 3’s made it a 10-8 game — but NY kept the pressure up for a 10-0 run to go up 22-10.

Jalen Brunson hit a 3 and a drive for 5 straight points, thenย Josh Hart stole the ball for a bucket the other way.

Mohamed Diawara hit a 3 and then Brunson hit a 3-and-1 late in the period for a 32-17 Knick lead.

The Knicks pushed the lead to 24 pts at the start of the 2nd quarter, with their Defense leading the way, and Karl-Anthony Towns ripping down every rebound.

A Towns rebound led to a fast break and Tyler Kolek pullup 3 for a 43-22 Knick lead with 9:54 left in the quarter.

Portland pushed back with Sidy Cissoko and Jeremy Grant hitting consecutive 3’s and Cissoko scoring on a slam inside — but a Mitchell Robinson offensive rebound and feed to Brunson for a 3 put NY up 56-38 with 5:41 left.

2. Blazers Pull Back within 8 Before Half

But Portland kept pushing back — Shaedon Sharpe hitting consecutive 3’s to pull them within 13.

Both Donovan Clingan and Deni Avdija suffered hand injuries late in the 2nd quarter. Brunson accidentally whacked Clingan’s hand on a play.

Then a few minutes later, Avdija got his finger stuck in the netting.

The Knicks went cold and both teams went several minutes without scoring — the game stuck at 56-43 Knicks, until Sharpe scored on a drive and Grant hit a pullup to pull Portland within 8 at 56-48 with 57 seconds left in the period.

3. OG Puts NY Back up 15 to Start 3rd

Jalen Brunson hit a 3 with 9 seconds left in the 2nd quarter to give NY a 10-pt lead at the half, and then OG Anunoby scored on a dunk and then hit a 3 early in the 3rd quarter to put NY back up by 15.

4. Knick DEFENSE Shuts Down Portland in 2nd Half

The Knicks Defense took it from there — stifling Portland throughout the 3rd quarter as NY outscored them 28-20 to take an 18-pt lead.

5. Kolek Orchestrates — and Scores — to Push Knick Lead in 4th

Tyler Kolek came in to start the 4th, and once again pushed the tempo and hit teammates with pinpoint passes for rhythm 3’s. But in this game his shot was falling too. He hit a 3 to start the period, then fed KAT for a 3 and NY was starting to romp.

Kolek hit another 3 a minute later, then fed KAT for a drive. OG then dunked off a KAT assist — the pass of the game — and then hit a 3 off a Kolek assist and NY was up 106-80 with 7:09 left.

From there on out it was Rip City.

Etcetera — RIP CITY Explained

The City of Portland has been knicknamed Rip City since the early 1970’s — and got that knickname from the basketball team! The knickname eminated from a play-by-play call of a game between the Trailblazers and the Lakers on February 18, 1971 — during Portland’s initial season in the NBA.

The Blazers came back from a 20-pt deficit to pull within 2 pts in the 4th quarter when Jim Barnett (who years later became a Knick) took an ill-advised shot from nearly half-court and hit nothing but net — and Portland’s play-by-play announcer Bill Schonely yelled out โ€œRIP CITY, ALRIGHT!โ€

The Lakers went on to win the game by 22 pts — 136-114 — but the Trailblazer fans sardonically made the call the knickname for the team, and the whole city took on the knickname for itself.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401810545

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