Portland Trail Blazers blow lead but beat New York Knicks, 103-99

LaMarcus Aldridge scored 24 points and the Portland Trail Blazers regrouped after blowing a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter to beat the New York Knicks, 103-99, on Sunday night for their fourth straight victory.

Carmelo Anthony had 23 points with LeBron James sitting courtside, but the Knicks lost their eighth straight and 12th in their last 13. J.R. Smith scored 20 points off the bench and Amar’e Stoudemire added 16 for New York, whose 4-18 start is a franchise worst.

The Trail Blazers have won five straight games over New York.

Wesley Matthews had 17 points for the Trail Blazers, who led, 89-79, with 8:04 left in the fourth before New York stormed back with a 16-5 run.

With a night off in New York before Cleveland visits Brooklyn on Monday, James was back at Madison Square Garden for the second time in four nights. He helped the Cavaliers beat the Knicks on Thursday.

Anthony’s basket gave the Knicks a 97-95 lead with 3:33 remaining, Damian Lillard made a free throw, and after a turnover by Stoudemire, Aldridge made two free throws to give Portland the lead for good, 98-97 with 2:46 left.

New York cut it to 100-99 on Stoudemire’s dunk with 1:27 left, but Aldridge answered right back with a 14-foot jumper and Portland held on to improve to 16-4, tied for the second-best record in the league.

at Boston 101, Washington 93: Jeff Green scored 25 points, reserve Marcus Thornton had 21 and the Celtics nearly blew a 25-point third-quarter lead before beating the Wizards in Paul Pierce’s return. Rajon Rondo had a triple-double with 13 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists for the Celtics, who won their third straight after a season-high five-game losing streak. The Wizards failed to match the franchise’s best start since 1968-69.

Oklahoma City 96, at Detroit 94: Kevin Durant scored 28 points, Russell Westbrook added 22 points and 11 rebounds, and the Thunder beat the Pistons . The Pistons have lost 12 straight, two short of the franchise record.

at Atlanta 96, Denver 84: Paul Millsap scored 23 points, Kyle Korver added 15 points and the Hawks won their sixth straight game with a victory over the Nuggets. Wilson Chandler finished with a season-high 29 points and Timofey Mozgov had 14 points for the Nuggets.

at Memphis 103, Miami 87: Jon Leuer scored a season-high 20 points and matched his career best with 12 rebounds to lead the Grizzlies to a victory over the Heat.

at Dallas 125, Milwaukee 102: Chandler Parsons scored 28 points and the Mavericks rolled to a victory over the Bucks.