Illness, ankle may keep Porzingis out vs. Magic
Kristaps Porzingis has a second reason he could miss the Knicks’ next game.
In addition to still recovering from the sprained right ankle he suffered during Wednesday’s win over the Heat, Porzingis missed his second straight practice Saturday with an illness, and is being listed as questionable to play Sunday against the Magic at Madison Square Garden.
Porzingis said the previous day that his ankle was still swelling, and he wouldn’t return until he was “100 percent.”
The Knicks also play Monday night at Indiana, and coach Jeff Hornacek said Lance Thomas or Michael Beasley would replace Porzingis in the starting lineup, if necessary.
The Knicks lost the two previous games Porzingis missed this season — including a 112-99 loss in Orlando on Nov. 8— but played nearly all of Wednesday’s 115-86 victory without him, with Enes Kanter putting up 22 points and 14 rebounds.
“Now [that] he’s out, maybe I have more responsibilities on the offensive end, but I’m just gonna go out there and play my game, and just do my job and play hard,” Kanter said. “When your best player is not playing, it makes you a little nervous, but I believe that all the guys are gonna step up.”
Without their best player against the Heat, the Knicks looked as strong as they had all season, and believed the team didn’t need to adjust much without their superstar.
“Obviously KP presents different dynamics, as far as matchups and his ability, we try to get him the ball at a steady clip and he kind of sets the table for a lot of other things we’re able to do offensively, but we’re still gonna run the same offense,” Jarrett Jack said.
Frank Ntilikina was a limited participant in practice for the second straight day, and the 19-year-old rookie is also questionable for Sunday’s game. Ntilikina injured his right ankle during Tuesday’s practice, which forced him to miss his third game of the season Wednesday.
“He tried to do some things,” Hornacek said. “He didn’t do a whole lot of things up and down.”