Porzingis rebounds after ugly performance vs. Celtics

DETROIT — After scoring 28 points more than he did a night earlier, Kristaps Porzingis said he knows he’s on the right track.

Bouncing back from a his NBAworst 0-for-11, one-point outing in which he got benched for Michael Beasley in a win over the Celtics on Thursday, Porzingis racked up 19 of his 29 points in the second half Friday against the Pistons, his rust and sore left knee no longer of issue.

“Yeah, the second half especially, I felt better,’’ Porzingis said after the Knicks’ 104-101 loss. “My shot felt better. I think I realized I was rushing my shot a little bit, trying to get it off too quick [Thursday]. Once I slowed down a little bit that’s when the shots started to be longer and go in. That was it. I just kind of slowed down a little bit. But it’s a tough loss.”

Porzingis and Enes Kanter were back making an awesome big-man tandem in the second half. Porzingis got hot and scored on a fastbreak dunk, hit a smooth turnaround and a 3-pointer, piling up nine points in the quarter. Kanter scored on two straight tip-ins as the Knicks gained their first lead of the game.

In the fourth, Porzingis kept pouring it on with the club up five and 1:17 left before they sank. But at least it’s clear Porzingis’ knee is good.

“We need him to play well,’’ coach Jeff Hornacek said. “He’s a big part of what we do. After the other night to bounce back and get first shot to go down that helped. Getting him going was good.’’

Anthony Tolliver, who defended Porzingis, said he was happy at the Latvian’s shooting ledger. .

“He’s still going to his points no matter what,” Tolliver said. “For me it’s about making it tough on him being really physical without fouling, picking my spots to deny him the ball and make him work for the ball so when he gets the ball he’s already tired.”

The Knicks didn’t get nearly the same juice from scorching Beasley, who played a measly 13 minutes after scoring 32 in the win over Boston. Beasley was a minus-19, but Hornacek put him on the court for the final 24 seconds with the Knicks needing a bucket for the win. But he didn’t touch the ball.

Hornacek said with the need for penetration in close games, he can see Beasley being that guy in the future.