The Blazers, who suffered their most lopsided loss of the season, staggered back to Portland with a four-game losing streak.

Jalen Brunson does not always get credit, league-wide, for playing well defensively. Yet, New York Knicks coach Mike Brown has seen Brunson’s defense be a catalyst for their five-game winning streak.

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.

This is how you show ownership, a front office, and a fanbase that you want to stick together. Because the Knicks are quietly making a case that they don’t need Giannis Antetokounmpo after all. That they can play elite-level, selfless, winning basketball with the roster — or at least the core — as currently constructed.

The concerns bubbling around the Knicks had cooled in recent days, but Tuesday brought them right back to the surface. And that’s despite extending their win streak to three. Because if it were almost any other team than one of the NBA’s bottom-feeders in the Kings,

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Yabusele provided two rebounds across four minutes during Friday's 127-97 victory over Portland.

Mikal Bridges scored 19 of his 30 points in the third quarter, Karl-Anthony Towns had a season-high 22 rebounds and the New York Knicks extended their winning streak to four, rallying past the Toronto Raptors 119-92 on Wednesday night.