Mired in their second six-game losing streak of the season, the New York Knicks are back in the Empire State for two straight games, starting with tonight's matchup with the Portland Trail Blazers.
The Knicks will also welcome Indiana to Madison Square Garden on their quick residency and dropped a 104-99 decision at Chicago Monday night. Bulls superstar and reigning MVP Derrick Rose pumped in 32 points to keep the Knicks in the loss column, while Carmelo Anthony scored 21 points to pace New York.
In 10 games since Anthony returned from a groin injury, the Knicks are 2-8 and the novelty that is Linsanity has worn off. Jeremy Lin has failed to mesh with 'Melo and totaled 15 points and eight assists against the Bulls. Amare Stoudemire chipped in 20 points for New York, which was outrebounded by a 56-38 margin, including 22-9 on the offensive boards, and is tied with Milwaukee for the last playoff spot in the East.
"It sucks losing basketball games," Anthony said. "It's not a good feeling right now. ... We need to get our act together and start winning."
Lin is averaging 20.4 points, 8.5 assists, 3.6 rebounds and 2.37 steals over his last 19 games, while Anthony has surpassed the 20-point mark in six of the last seven contests.
New York is 11-10 at home this season and also lost six in a row from Jan. 12-21. It is seven games behind Philadelphia for the Atlantic Division lead and 6-10 against the Western Conference.
Portland is 2 1/2 games off the eighth and final postseason berth in the West and will continue a grueling seven-game road trip tonight.
In a 92-75 loss at Indiana last night, LaMarcus Aldridge led Portland with 17 points and Nolan Smith added 10 in a losing cause. The Trail Blazers have lost six of their last eight games and are last in the Northwest Division.
"You have to make shots and we didn't make shots early in the game," said Trail Blazers head coach Nate McMillan. "We shot pretty much 30 percent throughout this game and they took control."
The Blazers actually shot a season-low 31.3 percent for the game and the Pacers scored 20 points off 15 Portland turnovers. Portland will also visit Chicago and Oklahoma City on the current trek and is 6-15 away from Rip City. Center Marcus Camby left Tuesday's game with a shoulder injury and is questionable for tonight.
Portland and New York are meeting for the first time since splitting a home- and-home set a season ago. The Blazers have won seven of the past nine matchups in this series, and four of five trips to Madison Square Garden.
Aldridge averaged 19.5 points and 10.0 rebounds in two games against the Knicks in 2010-11. Stoudemire posted 20.5 points and 6.5 rebounds in the two encounters. New York has not won a season series against Portland since 1999-2000.
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