By ADRY TORRES – Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — RJ Barrett scored 31 points, Julius Randle added 20 points and nine rebounds, and the New York Knicks beat the Portland Trail Blazers 128-98 Wednesday night.
Immanuel Quickley had 18 points and Evan Fournier 14 for the Knicks, who were on a two-game losing streak.
It was New York’s first home win in more than a month after losing five straight games. Her last win at Madison Square Garden was on January 31 over Sacramento.
Jason Hart scored 17 points and Drew Eubanks had 10 points and nine rebounds for the Trail Blazers, who have lost eight of nine and six straight on the road.
Barrett scored 21 points on 8-for-14 shooting to help the Knicks take a 66-55 lead at halftime. New York beat the Trail Blazers 7-2 to open the second half and extend the lead to 74-57.
Portland then capitalized on three Knicks turnovers over four minutes and scored eight straight points to reduce the deficit to 78-70. But after a time-out, the Knicks went on a 9-2 sprint, topped by Barrett’s dunk that put New York 15 ahead.
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Eubanks found Keon Johnson at the other end for a dunk, but the Knicks ended the quarter on an 8-0 run six points from Randle and pulled away to win.
Trail Blazers: Reserve Kris Dunn scored 13 points on 6-for-9 shooting and added a team-high with seven assists.
Knicks: New York went 5-0 at home in February. Wednesday night’s game was the first home game of March after the first seven games of the month were played away. They went 3-4 during that stretch.
Trail Blazers: Staying in New York and visiting the Brooklyn Nets Friday night.
Knicks: Will host the Washington Wizards on Friday night.
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