NEW YORK – For much of the third quarter, the smallest man on the court had been the biggest player. There was very little the Portland Trail Blazers could do to stop Nate Robinson. The Knicks’ 5’9” guard, receiving extended playing time due to Jamal Crawford’s bruised right hand, was largely responsible for making the fourth quarter matter.

Still, despite Robinson’s career-high 45 points, and overall heroic effort [52:15 of playing time, six rebounds, and a team-leading six assists], New York faltered in overtime, 120-114.

Brandon Roy, Portland’s sensational sophomore guard, responded with a 27-point game, including eight of his team’s 12 points in the extra session. However, Roy was not the Blazers’ only scoring option. LaMarcus Aldridge had 22 points and 10 boards. Steve Blake, who spent most of the evening trying to catch the speedy Robinson, was solid with 15 points and a game-high 10 assists. Martell Webster also finished with 15, including three treys in the first quarter, as Portland jumped to a 36-24 advantage.

Robinson, noted for his energy, played the entire first three quarters after playing a mere 30 minutes against the Pistons on Friday. When he was, finally, substituted after a robust 44:25, he had blistered Steve Blake and the rest of the Trail Blazers for 36 points, which was already a career high. He, then, returned to tally six points over the final 1:16, including a lay-up over 7’1” Joel Przybilla to forge a 108-all tie.

While Robinson’s PT is an unofficial Knick record for a five quarter game, Stephon Marbury played 54:31, during a triple-overtime game against the Suns in January 2006, to establish the mark at the current Garden.

In all, Robinson tallied 22 in the third, which is third-highest one quarter total in franchise history, immediately after the 24 points by both Allan Houston [in the 4th, v. the Bucks in 2002] and Willis Reed [in the 2nd, v. the Lakers in 1967].

There were other significant contributors in the loss, namely Quentin Richardson [20 points, five rebounds, five assists], Fred Jones [17 points], David Lee [14 points, 14 rebounds] and eight fourth quarter points by Wilson Chandler. But, it was Robinson who sparked New York’s comeback, after they had emerged from halftime down by just five. He scored two-thirds of the team’s 33 points in the third, but Roy scored 11 of the Blazers’ 32 to avert further damage.

Robinson deked Blake with a stutter-step move to create a 103-102 score with 76 seconds remaining in regulation. Then, after coasting for an easy lay-up to, again, narrow the margin to one, James Jones was fouled intentionally. The Portland forward, a fourth year pro, missed the first and made the second for a 108-106 score. Robinson’s last hurrah was a wild bank shot past Przybilla’s outstretched arms at :02.3 seconds, which needed to linger on the rim for an added dramatic effect.

After just 1:48 of overtime, the Trail Blazers moved to a 114-109 lead, led by Roy and Aldridge. The tired Knicks, playing without Jamal Crawford [right hand] and Eddy Curry [right knee], in addition to Marbury and Zach Randolph, simply could not keep pace. Subsequently, Portland secured their 33rd victory of the season, surpassing last year’s total.

Thus, in each of the four games this week, New York stayed close entering the waning moments. New Orleans led, 90-88, with 3:33 to play before Chris Paul’s final surge. Two nights later, Cleveland was ahead, 99-98, with 4:29 before LeBron James hit four treys to seal it. On Friday, Detroit was up, 97-95, with 34 seconds before Tayshaun Prince tallied the clinching score.

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