PORTLAND — As another loss settled in for the Knicks, Emmanuel Mudiay walked out of their locker room and down the hallway of the Moda Center to the weight room. The Knicks had fallen 111-87 to the Trail Blazers and Mudiay had struggled again, a culprit in their fifth straight loss and the 13th loss in their last 14 games. He was frustrated too, after a third straight poor performance.



To bust the tension, he went to lift. He needed to clear his mind. After a night where he finished with three points, missed eight of nine shots, and turned the ball over six times in 26 minutes, Mudiay was also ready to confront his troubles.



He admitted he has been struggling — which wasn’t much of a secret. There was the scoreless night in Sacramento two nights earlier and the 2-of-10 shooting night in Los Angeles before that.



Tuesday night, Mudiay was one of many with problems. Frank Ntilikina started for the first time in his career and got in early...