PORTLAND, Ore. — The Knicks starting lineup changes couldn’t do anything to change the recent brilliance of Blazers point guard Damian Lillard.
Frank Ntilikina finally made his first NBA start Tuesday and Michael Beasley got benched. The moves ignited the Knicks for the first few minutes, but soon Lillard took over and blasted the Knicks for 37 points in 31 minutes while draining eight 3-pointers.
The emerging MVP candidate lifted the red-hot Blazers to a 111-87 victory, their eighth straight win, and sent the Knicks to their 13th loss in 14 games. His eight made treys on 11 attempts was two short of the NBA’s high this season of 10.