PORTLAND, Ore. — The Blazers didn’t need a torrid Carmelo Anthony to bludgeon the Knicks in the opener of the visitors’ four-game western trip.
With Anthony struggling early, the Blazers still dominated the Knicks, winning a rout, 115-87, and showing the visiting team’s issues run deeper than David Fizdale’s coaching skill.
The mediocre Blazers, who moved to 10-15, rallied from an early 7-2 deficit as Damian Lillard was unstoppable with 31 points against the sluggish Knicks.
The Blazers built a 21-point lead late in the first half and led by as many as 32 in Knicks interim coach Mike Miller’s second game. After an awful first half, Anthony rallied strong in garbage time to finish with 16 points, adding insult to injury.
The Knicks’ losing streak is now at 10 games — their record falling to a league-worst 4-20. They will try not to blow their best chance to snap it Wednesday in San Francisco against what is left of the Warriors, who are 5-20.
Tuesday’s performance at the Moda Center was a major disappointment, considering the Knicks had played with a renewed sharpness in Miller’s debut Saturday — a one-point loss to Indiana.
“It is disappointing,’’ said Julius Randle (16 points). “It’s about doing things consistent. We had a good performance at home, came up short. We didn’t do that tonight.”
Despite arriving two days before the game to get used to the time zone, it wound up like so many of Fizdale’s blowout losses. The Knicks shot 35 percent and Miller thinks impatience was the culprit.
“We tried some different things on Dame,’’ Miller said. “He made a lot of shots. The fact he was making a lot of shots and we were not making shots, it spiraled. Lillard is hitting 3s and to come back down the floor and try to move it, move it, it’s one of the hardest things. The instinct is to quick-strike back.’’
The Blazers took a 60-41 lead at the intermission. The Knicks looked a lot more lethargic than in their first game with their new coach and couldn’t shoot straight.
They shot 34 percent in the first half — 2 of 15 from the 3-point line. That’s on president Steve Mills, who built this roster.
“I’ve been in that situation before in New York,’’ Anthony said. “Coaching changes, players, staff. It’s not like you can sit back and evaluate it now. You got game after game. It’s a tough situation to be in for those guys.”
In his first game this season in the Pacific time zone, Knicks rookie RJ Barrett disintegrated — going 1 of 9 for five points, logging just 19 minutes.
With Lillard going for 25 points in the first half, the Blazers were able to survive a slow start by Anthony, who was 1 of 6 by intermission with three turnovers. He heated up in the second half, making three 3s and finishing 5 of 13 from the field.
“It didn’t matter how we got it — it’s a good one,’’ Anthony said. “It was an important game.”
Things started well enough when Randle buried a 3-pointer on the first possession and Anthony shot a brick over Barrett.
Anthony wallowed early, throwing a pass away, missing a pair of free throws and shooting and committing three turnovers to zero assists by halftime.
But Anthony soared in the third quarter. The ex-Knick hit back-to-back jumpers in the period to put the Blazers up 71-46. Then Anthony nailed a 3-pointer with 9:09 left to give Portland its biggest lead to that juncture — 30 points.
Miller looked agitated on the sidelines. After another open Portland 3-pointer, he hopped out of his seat, marched to mid-court and called timeout.
“I think we got away from things a little bit and it was hard to get back in that groove,’’ Miller said.
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