Game Preview: Portland Trail Blazers Take On the Struggling Knicks

Jusuf Nurkic and the Portland Trail Blazers will take on the struggling New York Knicks tonight.

The Portland Trail Blazers have been playing very well as of late. They have picked up wins over the Houston Rockets, Philadelphia 76ers, and Golden State Warriors during the past two weeks.

Recently, Jusuf Nurkic has been nothing short of amazing. He is averaging 23.7 points, 15.3 rebounds, 2.7 steals, and 2 blocks over the past three games. Nurkic should put up a nice stat line tonight against the Knicks. The Knicks are ranked 29th in the NBA in defensive rating, and Enes Kanter has been inconsistent statistically.

The Knicks are only 10-29 this season, and they have lost 9 out of their last 10 games.

On offense, Tim Hardaway Jr is leading the charge with 20.6 points per game. However, he has been wildly inefficient as he is shooting only 39.4% from the field. Outside of Hardaway Jr, the Knicks do not have a consistent offensive threat on their roster. The Knicks are actually dead last in the NBA in field goal percentage.

The Blazers defeated the Knicks in November. CJ McCollum dropped 31 points, and Meyers Leonard scored 15 points in 17 minutes. For the Knicks, Trey Burke stepped up and scored 19 points off of the bench.

The Knicks are well out of playoff contention and are probably looking ahead to next year’s draft. The Blazers should pick up an easy win tonight, and they could possibly move up the Western Conference standings.

Portland is currently only a half game behind the fourth-seeded LA Clippers, so a win tonight against the Knicks could be impactful.