NBA: Jalen Brunson scores 45 as Knicks top Trail Blazers

Jalen Brunson scored 45 points and the New York Knicks cruised to a 105-93 victory over the host Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday night.

Brunson was 14 of 30 from the field and 15 of 17 from the free-throw line while posting the 10th regular-season 40-point outing of his career. He fell five points shy of the career-best 50 he scored against the Phoenix Suns on Dec. 15.

OG Anunoby added 12 points and nine rebounds and Donte DiVincenzo also scored 12 for New York (39-27), which won for the third time in the past four games.

Deandre Ayton recorded 31 points and 14 rebounds for his seventh straight double-double for the Trail Blazers (19-47), who went 2-4 on a six-game homestand.

Dalano Banton added 16 points and four steals and Scoot Henderson had 12 points, seven rebounds and six assists for Portland. Kris Murray added 10 points.

Portland played without Anfernee Simons (knee) and Jerami Grant (hamstring).

The Knicks had held their previous three opponents under 80 points, the first time the franchise had done that since November 2000.

New York shot 43.7 percent but was just 6 of 29 from 3-point range while prevailing in the opener of a four-game road trip.

The Trail Blazers made 40.5 percent of their attempts and were 11 of 33 from behind the arc.

The Knicks led by 14 at the half and boosted the lead to 66-48 on DiVincenzo’s layup with 7:05 remaining in the third quarter.

The lead was again 18 when Anunoby stole the ball from Ayton and drove in for a dunk to make it 79-61 with 3:12 left. Brunson made two free throws 45 seconds later as New York’s lead reached 20 for the first time.

The Knicks led 85-68 entering the final stanza.

Ayton’s three-point play capped a 10-0 run as Portland moved within 85-75 with 10:16 remaining.

New York resumed control with an 8-2 run. Josh Hart’s layup capped it and made it 93-77 with 8:36 left.

Brunson buried a 3-pointer with 6:28 left to reach 40 points and bump the lead to 18 en route to New York closing it out.

Brunson scored 21 first-half points as the Knicks led 55-41 at the break.

–Field Level Media/Reuters