Kristian Winfield: Mired in Giannis Antetokounmpo trade rumors, Knicks win 5th in a row

Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News on Jan 30, 2026

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NEW YORK — This is how you show ownership, a front office, and a fan base 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.

How quickly those boos have become cheers.

Make it five wins in a row for the New York Knicks, who handed the Portland Trail Blazers a 127-97 loss at Madison Square Garden on Friday. The Trail Blazers, much like the Knicks, have been central in Antetokounmpo trade rumors and discussions for three reasons: They own several of the Milwaukee Bucks’ first-round picks from the failed Damian Lillard trade; Antetokounmpo and Jrue Holiday won a championship together in Milwaukee; and the Trail Blazers have a reported interest in acquiring Mikal Bridges, a friend of Lillard’s, should the Knicks want to include him in a deal for Antetokounmpo.

So it was only right for the Knicks to make a statement, to run up the score against a physical defense, to hang their third consecutive 35-point quarter dating back to the second half of Wednesday’s victory over the Toronto Raptors, another difficult defense to generate quality offense against.

The Knicks' offense hasn’t looked this good since Christmas. And the defense may be at an all-time best under coach Mike Brown.

“I think today was an example of that,” Josh Hart said after the game. “Getting stops on the defensive end, getting stops, playing our game, everyone playing aggressive and getting a lead and holding a lead.”

Suddenly, as the Feb. 5 NBA trade deadline draws near, the Knicks have the top-rated defense over their past five games. They’ve held opponents to fewer than 100 points in four of those five wins. And on Friday, the Knicks held three Trail Blazers starters to fewer than seven points, including Holiday, who mustered five points on 2-of-7 shooting, and Toumani Camara, who the Knicks held scoreless at the Garden.

“We’ve got good depth. We’ve got guys that can score. We’re able to play fast and to our advantages but it starts at the defensive end,” Hart said in his walk-off interview after the game. “And that’s where we’ve improved these last five games.”

The Knicks had trouble containing Shaedon Sharpe, who made his own Antetokounmpo trade-inclusion case with 26 points on 10-of-16 shooting at MSG on Friday.

They had little trouble elsewhere on the floor all night.

Jalen Brunson led the way with 26 points on 5-of-12 shooting from downtown, and both OG Anunoby (24 points) and Hart (20 points) poured it on in the scoring column as the entire starting five scored in double figures.

Most notably, Karl-Anthony Towns, who’d been mired in foul trouble, finished with just one foul after having zero fouls in the win over the Raptors.

Towns finished with 14 points, 20 rebounds and three assists in the win on Friday.

“I think for us the faster we play especially in the beginning of a game, it’s to our benefit,” said Hart. “We’ve got shooters, we’ve got guys that can run the court. So playing fast [helps us].”

The Trail Blazers (23-26), who’ve relied on a physical defense to win games in the Western Conference this season, rode a three-game losing streak into the Garden on Friday, most recently coming off of a loss to the league-worst Washington Wizards on Tuesday.

The Knicks handed them L No. 4 while picking up win No. 5, and they did it in a fashion that evoked the team that moved the ball and played selfless basketball en route to winning the NBA Cup Final against the San Antonio Spurs in Las Vegas in mid-December.

Perhaps the gravity and the fragility of the situation has hit home for a team that’s been embroiled in explosive trade rumors as the deadline draws near. Or maybe this team just looked itself in the mirror and made the corrections that could have saved a floundering season.