The Knicks close March out at the World’s Most Famous Arena.
The final sprint is upon us.
Once the final buzzer sounds on Sunday evening at Madison Square Garden, the Knicks (46-27) will have completed the final full month of the regular season.
They enter said game with a middling 7-7 record in the month as they look to avoid a losing month for the first time this season.
Should the Knicks win this contest, it’ll be their first season without a losing month (October and April excluded) since 2012-13. Fun!
A big reason why they are even in danger of a below-.500 month is the injury of Jalen Brunson, who will miss his 12th consecutive game today. Although they are 6-5 without him (better than most thought initially), it includes backbreaking losses that his stabilizing presence could’ve flipped.
FYI: Brunson can only miss four more games after this one to be eligible for All-NBA honors and Clutch Player of the Year. If he does not return by April 8th, he will miss out on some career accolades. It does appear like he may make it back, however.
This time last year, the Knicks were also mired in a rut due to injuries, but their standing was much more in doubt.
After a March 31 defeat at the hands of OKC last year, the Knicks sat just three games above the play-in tournament.
Today, the Knicks wake up with a 3.5 game cushion (with tiebreaker) over the four-seed Indiana Pacers. A collapse of all collapses would be needed to fall behind them (or an all-time hot streak).
The stakes in each of the remaining games will continue to diminish as seeding is locked up, but the experience these guys are accruing without Jalen Brunson will remain valuable.
The Portland Trail Blazers (32-42) are likely ending their season in a few weeks with another lottery visit. They sit four games behind the Sacramento Kings for the final play-in spot, and despite some big winning stretches, sit well below .500.
They will be missing several key pieces, including the leading scorer of these two team’s last clash, so the Knicks won’t be the only ones bruised and battered.
Season Series
The lone meeting between these two teams took place on March 12th in Portland. In the midst of a long road trip and without their captain, the Knicks and Blazers fought throughout, with neither team taking a lead larger than eight.
In a tight game, Karl-Anthony Towns appeared to hit the dagger with a pair of triples to go up by six with 1:14 to go, but a ludicrous banked in 3 by Scoot Henderson and an and-1 that shouldn’t have been got the Blazers back in the game. Scoot’s late-game takeover sent the game to overtime before long.
The two teams went blow for blow early, but sunk into their defense late in the overtime. A clutch block by Deuce McBride appeared to seal it with eight seconds to go, only for Josh Hart to commit an inbound violation that allowed Deni Avdija to make a go-ahead layup.
With a brutal loss all but written, Mikal Bridges grabbed a Sharpie and scribbled the word “game”.
He had 33 in a much-needed performance to counter the 57 combined from Henderson and Avdija.
Projected Starters
Anfernee Simons is questionable, but we’ll assume he goes. He’s taken a step back after back-to-back 20 PPG seasons, as he’s down from 22.6 to 19.3 this year. He’s only shooting 43% from the field but he’s likely to surpass a new career-high in games. He was a ghastly 2-for-11 in the meeting earlier this month.
Shaedon Sharpe is a dynamo. He’s shown flash after flash of his potential but hasn’t grabbed a hold of the Portland offense yet. Still, at just 21, he’s got a lot of room to grow. Granted, he’ll have to shoot better than 31% from 3. The high-flyer had 21 points and 9 rebounds in the first meeting.
Deni Avdija was a slam dunk acquisition from the Wizards (who can’t seem to get anything right, huh) in the offseason. In a career year, he’s averaging 16 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists on 47/37/78. In the first meeting, he torched the Knicks for 27/15/5 and the almost game-winner.
Toumani Camara likely starts again with Ayton and Grant sidelined. Camara has been an elite defender since he made the NBA and has grown into an above-average shooter to supplement him. Expect him to flank Mikal Bridges like last time, although he fouled out last time he tried to defend Kal.
2nd year wing Toumani Camara is an absolute menace defensively…
A+ effort, elite wing size, and just watch how he moves. Explosive but under control. Agile AND strong. Really cool player. Winner. pic.twitter.com/jcteJMUWIP
— NBA University (@NBA_University) November 18, 2024
Donovan Clingan will start at center. The rookie from UConn has slowly grown into the lottery pick he was, flashing with double-digit rebounds in seven games this month. His challenge will be to defend Karl-Anthony Towns, who almost got him fouled out last time. He and Mitchell Robinson will surely battle on the boards as well.
Prediction
The reason Portland nearly stole the game a few weeks ago will not play due to concussion protocol. That doesn’t mean they don’t have the pieces to frustrate the Knicks if they don’t bring their A-game.
Mikal Bridges will need to run back his excellence from the last meeting and OG Anunoby will have to finish his March strong. The Blazers play hard, but turned it over 23 times in the last meeting.
The key to winning this one will be the point guard play. Deuce McBride hit big shots and made big defensive plays, but he won’t play. Delon Wright was a pleasant surprise on Friday in Milwaukee and an encore would be appreciated. As would more dimes from Tyler Kolek.
Knicks by 9.
Injury Report
Blazers:
OUT – Deandre Ayton (calf), Scoot Henderson (concussion), Bryce McGowans (rib), Robert Williams III (knee)
Doubtful – Jerami Grant (knee)
Questionable – Anfernee Simons (forearm)
Knicks:
OUT – Jalen Brunson (ankle), Miles McBride (groin), Ariel Hukporti (knee), Cameron Payne (ankle)
Game Details
Date: Sunday, March 30, 2025
Time: 6:00 PM ET
Place: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
TV: MSG
Follow: @ptknicksblog and bsky