The Trail Blazers step into a den of turmoil Tuesday night when they face the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
Things might be a bit calmer by then, though. Knicks general manager Donnie Walsh wants the Stephon Marbury affair cleared up by Monday, which means a measure of stability might return to the New York locker room for the game against Portland. A year ago, Portland won a pair of overtime thrillers against the Knicks, whose roster has been overhauled since then. Under new coach Mike D'Antoni, the Knicks like to run, as evidenced by their 138-125 win over Golden State on Saturday.
In that one, point guard Chris Duhon dished out a franchise-record 22 assists and center/forward David Lee collected a career-high 37 points and 21 rebounds, the Knicks' first 30-20 game since Patrick Ewing had 36 and 21 in 1994.
TRAIL BLAZERS 96, PISTONS 85: The Trail Blazers parlayed a late 18-3 run to their fourth straight victory Sunday on the opening leg of a five-game road trip. LaMarcus Aldridge equaled his season high with 27 points, and Brandon Roy made a number of big plays down the stretch.
"It was big for us," said Aldridge, who made 11 of 19 shots from the field and outplayed Detroit power forward Rasheed Wallace, the enigmatic ex-Blazer. "The momentum of our last game (a home win over New Orleans) carried over to today. We wanted to start this road trip off right."
The Blazers were ahead 30-16 when the Pistons stormed back with a 15-0 flurry that gave them a 31-30 advantage in the second quarter.
Detroit held a 77-75 lead on two Arron Afflalo free throws with 8:43 remaining when the Roy-led 18-3 surge turned the tide Portland's way.
"This is a good win for us, because we've struggled against good teams on the road this year," Roy said. "We had good focus, and we were able to close out the game."
