The Portland Trail Blazers defeated the New York Knicks, 132-129, at Madison Square Garden on Friday.

The Trail Blazers (11-8) and the Knicks (9-10) had to play five extra minutes to find a winner, but in the end, the visitors prevailed and secured a big win against an inconsistent Knicks team. What should be even more frustrating for the Knicks should be that they jumped ahead in the early going by a 31-25 lead in the first quarter but only to see Portland recover the advantage and move up by two points following a 37-30 score in the second quarter. The Trail Blazers were leading by seven points after a 30-25 score in third quarter, and they could’ve closed things out, but the Knicks had other plans – they outscored their opponents by a 30-24 score and forced overtime. Unfortunately, the Knicks couldn’t carry the momentum into the OT and allowed the Blazers to close out the victory.

Jerami Grant had his best game as a Portland player and finished with 44 points, while Anfernee Simons had an impressive outing and posted 38 points to go along with five assists and four rebounds. Josh Hart notched 10 points, four assists and two steals, but he stood out as a rebounder with 19 boards. Jusuf Nurkic ended with 20 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.

Jalen Brunson led the way for the Knicks with 32 points, five rebounds and four assists, while R.J. Barrett finished with a 19-point, 10-rebound double-double that also included five assists. Julius Randle delivered 23 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals, while Miles Robinson ended with 12 points, eight rebounds and two blocks. Immanuel Quickley looked impressive off the bench with 18 points, five assists and four rebounds.