The Portland Trail Blazers play host to the New York Knicks at Moda Center on Tuesday.

The Knicks (4-19) had some high hopes coming into the season but it's been the same old Knicks so far. That's why they were the first to fire their head coach, with David Fizdale being given his walking papers last week. That's really no surprise when you see his results and New York fans are hopeful that getting rid of him will spark a fire underneath this talented roster. A one-point loss against the Indiana Pacers in the first game without him is definitely a promising sign and fans have to love seeing their team play so hard against a potent Pacers bunch. What is annoying is the fact that they missed 14 of their final 15 shots in that game, despite outscoring Indiana 5-0 across the final six minutes. That screams defensive effort and that's the first step for any team to get out of the gutter.

The Trail Blazers (9-15) come into this matchup losing three of their last four games which actually snapped a season-best three-game winning streak. Many people were hopeful that the Trail Blazers tough times were over when that winning streak happened but this most recent stretch would say otherwise. The most recent defeat has to be a very worrisome sign, with Oklahoma City coming into Portland and handing the Blazers a double-digit defeat. That's something you would have never seen from this team in past years and a 4-6 home record really shows just where this club is at right now. Carmelo Anthony's resurgence has been impressive though, with the former All-Star averaging 15.9 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. That's all you can ask for from a player who's been absent for a year and it may be just what this Portland team needs.

Portland has won 12 of its last 14 games over New York dating back to 2013.