With only slight play-in hopes remaining, the Portland Trail Blazers played most of Sunday afternoon’s game at the New York Knicks like a team that had not yet given up on its postseason dreams.

But after building a 14-point lead in the third quarter, the Blazers struggled to rediscover the formula needed to score consistently against the superior Knicks’ defense and lost 110-93.

“It was a tough mountain to climb today,” Blazers coach Chauncey Billups told reporters at Madison Square Garden.

Blazers forward Deni Avdija led the Blazers with 33 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Shaedon Sharpe scored 23 points on 10-of-18 shooting and had seven rebounds.

“Deni had another great night,” Billups said. “He carried us in a lot of different ways. I thought he and Shaedon really carried us through the night when everybody else was kind of having a rough one.”

The Blazers dominated the second quarter 33-23 and used a 10-0 run early in the third quarter to go up 68-54 with 8:19 on the clock. Then the Knicks seemingly woke up and outscored the Blazers 56-25 the rest of the game.

The Blazers shot just 27.8% in the fourth quarter, including going 0 of 7 from three-point range, and were outscored 31-15.

“We were kind of rushed in the fourth quarter,” Avdija told reporters. “It happens to us sometimes. We’re still learning. That’s about it. I feel like we were there. They went on a run and we didn’t really respond.”

The Blazers’ poor shooting most of the night prevented any real chance of winning.

“Anytime you’re on the road playing against a really good team, you’re gonna have to shoot it pretty good,” Billups said.

The Blazers did not.

Shaedon Sharpe #17 of the Portland Trail Blazers drives to the basket defended by Josh Hart #3 of the New York Knicks during the second quarter of the game at Madison Square Garden on March 30, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Dustin Satloff/Getty Images)Getty Images

They shot a decent 43.7% from the field but went 9 of 36 from three-point range (25%) and hit on only 57.1% from the free-throw line (8 of 14).

“It’s tough to compete in a game like that,” Billups said. “But we did. We did. We competed. We stayed in and stayed in.”

OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges each scored 28 points for the Knicks, who shot 53.6% from the field and 10 of 25 from three-point range (40%).

The Blazers’ bench scored just four points on a combined 2-of-8 shooting. Duop Reath scored all four points for that group.

“Our bench had a really tough night,” Billups said.

WHAT IT MEANS

The Blazers (32-43), who have lost four consecutive games, trail the 10th-place Sacramento Kings by 4½ games with seven games remaining.

The Knicks (47-27), third in the Eastern Conference, extended their lead over fourth-place Indiana (43-31) to four games.

SIMONS PLAYS, STRUGGLES

Anfernee Simons was listed as questionable with forearm soreness but ended up starting. He scored 15 points on 5-of-20 shooting and went 1 of 8 from three-point range.

Anfernee Simons #1 of the Portland Trail Blazers during the first quarter of the game against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on March 30, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Dustin Satloff/Getty Images)Getty Images

HENDERSON OUT

Backup point guard Scoot Henderson did not play after entering the NBA’s concussion protocol. He left Thursday’s loss at the Sacramento Kings and did not return.

NEXT UP

The Blazers play at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Atlanta Hawks (35-38).

— Aaron Fentress | [email protected] | @AaronJFentress (Twitter), @AaronJFentress (Instagram), @AaronFentress (Facebook)