NEW YORK — Derrick Rose had a red-hot Kristaps Porzingis and an ice-cold Carmelo Anthony, and he chose neither.
Down the stretch, Rose called his own number.
Rose made the go-ahead basket with 3:15 remaining and hit the jumper that clinched it with 6.8 seconds left as the New York Knicks beat the Portland Trail Blazers 107-103 on Tuesday night.
“I’m not here to bust or brag but I’m used to being in positions where I have the ball in my hand, playing in Chicago,” Rose said. “I’ve really played like that my entire life, through grammar school, high school, college and here.”
Porzingis had 31 points and nine rebounds and Rose scored six of his 18 points down the stretch. Brandon Jennings had 11 assists off the bench as the Knicks won their fifth straight at home.
“That’s why we came here,” Jennings said. “We came here to win.”
Anthony finished with 17 points after going scoreless in the fourth quarter and shooting 2 for 12 in the second half, but tipped out the rebound of Rose’s miss with about 30 seconds left, allowing the Knicks to keep possession before Rose’s jumper that clinched it.
“There’s other ways to impact the game if your shots not falling and he did it another way and that was defense and rebounding,” guard Courtney Lee said.
Damian Lillard scored 22 points for the Trail Blazers but fell to 4-1 at Madison Square Garden. CJ McCollum added 16 points.
The Blazers were trying for a New York sweep, having routed the Brooklyn Nets 129-109 on Sunday. They managed just a pair of free throws from Lillard after taking a three-point lead with 3:58 to play.
“We’ve got to go out there and get after it. We’ve got to play hard, understand who they are and what they’re capable of,” Lillard said. “At the end of the day it’s the NBA, anybody can be beat.”
Rose made consecutive baskets, with his reverse layup giving the Knicks a 102-101 lead. It appeared he was going to lose possession on their next trip, but the ball came out to Mindaugas Kuzminskas for a 3-pointer that made it 105-101 with 2:37 to play.
Lillard’s free throws cut it to two with 1:22 left, but the Blazers turned it over, then couldn’t grab the rebound after a Knicks miss. Rose hit a jumper as the shot clock was winding down to put away the victory.
TIP-INS
Trail Blazers: Portland had won four straight at MSG, with its last loss in March 2012, a few months before drafting Lillard. … Coach Terry Stotts remained with 190 wins, tied with Mike Dunleavy for fourth on Portland’s career coaching list.
Knicks: The Knicks played without starting center Joakim Noah (illness) for the second straight game. … Jennings cramped up and didn’t play in the fourth quarter. … New York won for just the second time in the last nine meetings.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
Stotts, on the Blazers’ lengthy stay in New York, where they arrived Saturday for their two-game stint:
“It’s actually nice not to have to travel for that extra game. It makes the road trip a little more tolerable, but to be able to stay in New York four days is pretty nice,” he said.
SIBLING RIVALRY
Knicks backup center Marshall Plumlee didn’t get into the game to play against his older brother Mason, the Blazers’ starting center. Marshall Plumlee made his NBA debut on Sunday, a day after Mason surprised him by showing up to watch him play for the Westchester Knicks of the NBA Development League.
UP NEXT
Trail Blazers: Visit Cleveland on Wednesday, the first meeting since the Blazers’ 105-76 rout last Dec. 26 in a game they played without Lillard.
Knicks: Host the Hornets on Friday in the opener of a home-and-home series. They play Saturday in Charlotte, where they have lost five straight.
Check out the team sites for the Portland Trail Blazers and the New York Knicks for more game coverage.