Are the Blazers a different team now? I am beginning to wonder if my criteria for good Blazer basketball are outdated and need to be changed slightly.

The Portland Trail Blazers go into Madison Square Garden and beat the New York Knicks for the first time this season, 103-99. The Blazers improve to 16-4 on the season, while the Knicks fall to 4-18 on the season.

The Knicks have been struggling mightily. In fact, the word “struggling”, may be putting it too kindly. After Carmelo Anthony decided to sign with New York for the long-term, Phil Jackson coming in as President of Basketball Operations and Derek Fisher being crowned the head coach, the expectations for this team were certainly higher than last year. Phil Jackson and Derek Fisher both had a sensational run with the Lakers and now they are looking to duplicate it in New York. While, the Knicks were not going to blow anybody away with their roster, they certainly are better than a 4-18 record.

The problems lie in a couple of areas. One, this team is learning the intricate Triangle offense. This roster consists of players who like to have the ball in their hands, all of the time if they had their way. J.R. Smith and Melo would like to shoot the ball about 30 times a game. Here is the problem; the Triangle is useless when the ball sticks. Passing the ball and sacrificing is critical for the success of that offense. Players have been quoted as saying that they are still figuring it out, which causes some offensive possessions to be out of place or wacky.

Secondly, the roster: I think New York would love if someone would take Smith for pocket lint. While he did have a good game tonight (20 points on 8-for-12 shooting, 3-for-6 from three), Smith does not do wonders for a team. Not only is he not the best player and is extremely streaky, but he tends to be unprofessional (shoe lace incident). That is the big elephant in the room. Tim Hardaway Jr is a talented player and New York should make sure no one takes him, but the roster could use some rearranging. As it stands Melo has the ball in an isolation situation still and the Knicks stand around to see what happens. Now, in this game, there was less of that in the second half. I actually saw instances where Smith and Melo passed the ball. The ball movement was more consistent and there was less of the Melo isolations and the waiting for something to happen nonsense. New York actually looked like they knew what they were doing for a few possessions and it showed that this team could actually be decent if they just played the right way.

Regardless, the Knicks have not been a good team, especially late and the Blazers had a huge advantage right away.

This game was a lot more interesting than Blazer fans probably expected. The Blazers’ biggest lead was 11, but that was quickly erased thanks to a fourth quarter rally from the Knicks. What struck me was the poise from Portland. New York played a solid game all the way through. Their defense was sharper than most games, their offense had movement and they were shooting a high-percentage, granted some of those were crazy. Everything was going their way, Smith came out blazing hot, Amar’e Stoudemire has been playing good basketball as he is finally healthy.  Anthony was hitting his patent mid-range as well as getting to the rim. Flip to Portland, the Blazers shot 36% from three in the first half as well as only getting to the FT line nine times and missing three against one of the worst teams in fouling. The plate was set for New York. As you will see, poise and, in my opinion, a questionable coaching decision ultimately allowed Portland to get the victory.

Let’s jump to the fourth quarter. The Knicks shot 52% from the field and 20% from three. Portland, on the other hand, struggled from the field and shot just 26% and 33% from three. Mid-range after mid-range as well as a J.R. Smith takeover moment was the story of the Knicks’ comeback. This has been the story of this team. They can comeback, but they never finish. That was evident here tonight. Smith had nine points in the quarter on 4-for-6 shooting. He slashed through the lane and made some impressive lay-ups and long twos. While Portland’s defense was definitely being effective, I think Smith saw a weakness and used it on a couple of possession, plus he was just on fire tonight. Melo finished with seven points on 3-for-6 shooting, 1-for-2 from three in the quarter. There was one possession that showed the exact problem of them not finishing in close games. Pablo Prigioni brought the ball up and starting running towards the right wing. Nicolas Batum, guarding Anthony, went over to help, an ill-advised move in that situation. Anthony had a wide-open three-pointer that should have been a bucket, but Carmelo missed it. I know he is not the greatest three-point shooter, but that shot was as a clear of a shot as he had the whole game. Oh, and he missed with 2:33 remaining in the fourth and would have put his team up by two. In the final 2:58 of this game, the Knicks only scored once. That says it all. Portland played good defense, but all of the sudden the mental block or voodoo magic happened and the Knicks just stopped making baskets.

While the Knicks were cold and forgettable in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, LaMarcus Aldridge was not. LA scored six points in the final 2:46 and was the clincher. Portland went to him three times and he delivered when it mattered. That poise I was talking about was evident. The crowd was energetic and the Knicks were rolling. They hit mid-range after mid-range as well as getting the necessary stops needed. However, Aldridge stayed the course and got Portland the buckets they needed.

Now, what puzzles me is a coaching decision made by Derek Fisher. J.R. Smith was red hot. In the first half he had 11 points on 4-for-6 shooting, 3-for-5 from three, but he only played ten minutes. He played half of the second quarter, but only two minutes in the third where he did not score a single point or attempt a basket. Now, Portland’s defense had something to do with that, but that is not the point. Portland outscored the Knicks 30-25 in the third quarter. Why did Fisher leave him out for so long? Smith did play the entire fourth quarter, but for half of it he was ice cold. It would have been interesting to see how this game turned out if Smith played six or seven minutes in the third quarter. I think this would have potentially been a different story. In my opinion, this was a questionable choice to leave out the streakiest player on the planet having a scorching game.

Portland’s leading scorers were the usual suspects. LA finished with 24 points on 9-for-19 shooting with 11 rebounds, one assists and one steal. With New York starting Quincy Acy, a small forward, on Aldridge to begin with and the Knicks really not having a stopper for LA, Aldridge had a field day. Acy only played 19 minutes and it was not for his lack of energy. LA seemed to hit every shot against Acy.

Damian Lillard finished with 20 points on 5-for-16 shooting, 2-for-8 from three with five rebounds, two assists and one steal. Lillard, who sported new wraps on his fingers after injuring them in the Pacer matchup, still dropped 20 points. He had an impressive long-range three as well as getting FT line (8-for-9).

Wesley Matthews was huge for Portland. He finished with 18 points on 5-for-11 shooting, 3-for-6 from three and had one rebound, three assists and three steals. However, ten of those points came in the fourth quarter. He was 2-for-3 from three in the fourth.

Portland out-rebounded the Knicks 44-37. The final possession of this really spelled out the Knicks’ problems. After a missed mid-range from LA, Robin Lopez was somehow able to grab the offensive rebound in a sea of white and he had the presence of mind to pass it out to the shooters. At this point, there was eight seconds remaining in the game. Because of Lopez’s effort, Portland was able to take time off the clock to where the Knicks could do nothing. 1.7 remained after the Knicks were finally able to foul to someone.

I really liked that Portland only had nine turnovers. Keep it under double-digits and I will be happy. The FT line is still a shaky spot for Portland right now. They finished going 21-for-29 from the line and shot just 72%. What was surprising was Matthews, usually a dependable FT shooter, missed two out of three free throws after getting fouled on a three-pointer. It is still an area that may not be fully developed for the season yet, but towards the end of the game, the confidence seemed to be coming back slowly.

Overall, this was a nice win by Portland that showed, once again, that this team can win games in a multitude of ways. Next up on this five-game road trip, the Detroit Pistons, who are another bad team. The roster, on paper should be better, but somehow the Pistons are just performing poorly. I think the roster that is currently there, besides Andre Drummond, needs to be changed. Everyone should on the market. Tip-off is on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. PST at the Palace. Stay tuned!