Karl-Anthony Towns and the New York Knicks are in a strange position: The more they win, the more they’ll be connected to trade rumors involving Giannis Antetokounmpo.
The Knicks will look to remain hot Friday night when they host the Portland Trail Blazers in the final game of the season between the nonconference foes.
The Knicks were off Thursday after riding a dominant second half to a 119-92 win Wednesday night over the host Toronto Raptors. The Trail Blazers took their third straight loss Tuesday when they continued a three-game road trip with a 115-111 loss to the Washington Wizards.
The Knicks, on a four-game winning streak, are positioned to end January in a much steadier position than seemed possible last week. New York lost nine of 11 from Dec. 31 through Jan. 19, a stretch in which the team endured two four-game losing streaks.
But the Knicks’ last four wins have been by an average of 25 points. While that figure is inflated by a 120-66 win over the Brooklyn Nets on Jan. 21 — the most lopsided win in team history — New York has displayed an impressive finishing touch during its last three victories.
The Knicks held off a late rally by the Philadelphia 76ers in a 112-109 win last Saturday before outscoring the Sacramento Kings by 16 points in the fourth quarter of Tuesday’s 103-87 win. New York trailed by as many as 12 points in the first half Wednesday but outscored the Raptors 72-41 in the second half.
With the victory, the Knicks snapped a virtual tie with the Raptors for third place in the Eastern Conference and moved into a tie for second with the Boston Celtics, six games back of the Detroit Pistons.
The Knicks beat the Raptors hours after ESPN reported the Bucks and two-time NBA MVP Antetokounmpo are likely headed for a divorce, either at the February trade deadline or over the summer. Antetokounmpo is currently sidelined with a right calf strain.
Any deal for Antetokounmpo would likely include Towns, who leads the NBA with 11.6 rebounds per game but is shooting a career-low 46.2% from the field while also struggling on defense.
“We only worry about one thing — that’s winning — so I’ve got no reason to go into depth on anything else,” Towns said Wednesday. “At the end of the day, the conversations revolve around one thing and one thing only every single day, 24 hours a day: winning.”
A three-game losing streak has lessened the margin of error for the Trail Blazers as they try to climb out of the play-in spots in the Western Conference.
Portland, which hasn’t made the playoffs since the 2020-21 season, is tied with the Los Angeles Clippers for the final two play-in spots. The teams are six games behind the Los Angeles Lakers and Minnesota Timberwolves, who entered Thursday in a virtual tie for fifth place and the last two guaranteed playoff berths.
The Trail Blazers, who commit an NBA-high 16.1 turnovers per game and are tied for 21st in free-throw shooting (77.3%), committed 20 turnovers while shooting a season-worst 56.5% (13 of 23) from the line Thursday.
While Portland hit four of its five free throws in the fourth quarter, it also committed five turnovers as it squandered a six-point lead. The Trail Blazers almost overcame a six-point deficit in the final 1:01, when Shaedon Sharpe scored five straight points to pull Portland within 112-111 before he missed a potential game-tying jumper with nine seconds left.
The Trail Blazers are 5-8 this season when committing at least 20 turnovers.
“I think a big part of the loss is our 20 turnovers,” acting Trail Blazers head coach Tiago Splitter said. “And of course we didn’t have a good night shooting free throws. A lot of little things.”
