Game Preview: Knicks at Trail Blazers, March 12, 2025

With just two games left to go on their final West Coast road trip of the season, the Knicks will host a young Trail Blazers team that has shown some promise over the last couple of months. The Trail Blazers are in the midst of a four-game losing streak, but all four of those games have come against playoff teams, with three of those losses coming at the hands of the Warriors, Thunder, and Celtics, who are among the three hottest teams in the league not named the Cavaliers.

In March, Anfernee Simons has stepped up, averaging 28.5PPG, while former Wizard, Deni Avdija is averaging 21.3PPG, 10RPG, and 5.5APG. And supporting those two have been the promising duo of Shadeon Sharpe, who is averaging 17.2PPG, and Scoot Henderson, who is averaging 14PPG. Outside of that, though, Portland has struggled to score the ball consistently, as they rank just 23rd in offensive rating during March. And defensively, they’ve been almost as bad, as they rank 21st in defensive rating for the month.

On paper, Portland is a team that New York can, and should, beat handily. But it’s not like New York has been on fire, either. Despite dismantling the Kings 133-104 on Monday night, they’ve lost three of their last four and have struggled on the offensive side for a while now, ranking 26th in offensive rating. But against the Kings, they seemed to have started to figure out how they can best navigate life without their captain, and best player, Jalen Brunson.

In their win against Sacramento, they utilized quick ball movements and short rolls on screens to set up numerous three-point attempts. It certainly helped that the Kings seemed disinterested in playing any sort of defense. But if they can replicate the same sort of ball movement, and shooting, their offense should continue to see the type of success it did two nights ago, even if it’s not exactly to that degree. That, along with their much-improved defense since Mitchell Robinson’s return, should help give them the edge.

Prediction

The Knicks have consistently beaten inferior teams they are supposed to beat. There are a few losses like the ones to the Jazz, and Bulls, that come to mind, but for the most part, under Tom Thibodeau, the Knicks have taken care of business. It may not always be pretty. It’s sometimes closer than it should be or takes playing the starters more than you’d like. And sometimes it takes a couple of quarters for them to wake up. But for all intents and purposes, the Knicks should win this game. Despite their less-than-stellar March play, they are the better team both statistically, and on paper, and they should build off of what was a very encouraging offensive performance on Monday, keep up their improving defense, and win tonight. Knicks take it 120-105. Look for OG Anunoby, who has looked very good offensively, and former Trail Blazer, Josh Hart, to have big games tonight.