Karl-Anthony Towns powers Knicks to easy win over Blazers

Karl-Anthony Towns posted another double-double with 14 points and 20 rebounds Friday night for the New York Knicks, who continued surging with a wire-to-wire 127-97 win over the visiting Portland Trail Blazers.

It was the second straight 20-rebound game for Towns, who leads the NBA in rebounding at 11.8 rebounds per game. Towns pulled down a season-high 22 rebounds in Wednesday's 119-92 win over the Toronto Raptors. He has 31 double-doubles this year.

Jalen Brunson scored a team-high 26 points for the Knicks, who ended the month with five straight wins following a 2-9 skid that began Dec. 31. New York has allowed fewer than 100 points in four of the five victories.

Starters OG Anunoby (24 points), Josh Hart (20 points) and Mikal Bridges (10 points) all got into double figures for the Knicks. Tyler Kolek had 13 points off the bench while fellow reserve Mohamed Diawara added 10 points.

Shaedon Sharpe scored 26 points for the Trail Blazers, who concluded a winless three-game east coast road trip as they lost their fourth straight overall following a four-game winning streak. The losing streak ties a season-high for Portland, which also dropped four straight from Nov. 14-19.

Jerami Grant (15 points), Sidy Cissoko (15 points) and Caleb Love (12 points) all got into double figures off the bench for the Trail Blazers while starter Deni Avdija had 11 points. Reserve Robert Williams III had a team-high 11 rebounds.

Diawara's 3-pointer gave the Knicks their first double-digit lead at 22-10 with 3:41 left in the first. New York led 37-22 at the end of the opening period before scoring the first nine points of the second.

A 23-7 run later in the second pulled the Trail Blazers within 56-48 before the Knicks carried a 59-49 lead into halftime. New York led by double digits throughout the second half and by as many as 33 in the fourth.

--Field Level Media