POR’ING IT ON!
KP’S 30-POINT NIGHT PROPELS KNICKS TO RARE ROAD WIN
NEW ORLEANS — Kristaps Porzingis broke out of his slump with a 30-point game and rose up in the clutch. Jarrett Jack, this time, hit last-second free throws.
And the Knicks celebrated wildly on the court at the buzzer, heading into the new year with a .500 record. Rallying from an eight-point fourth-quarter deficit, the Knicks smashed a four-game losing streak and salvaged their three-game road trip with a 105-103 Big Easy heist over the Pelicans.
“Really we shouldn’t be celebrating like we did,’’ Porzingis said in a giddy locker room. “The postman doesn’t celebrate when he delivers mail. But it was good to get a win, finally on the road. [Down] eight, late in the fourth, but we just didn’t want to give up and we knew we had to fight until the last moment, the last breath.’’
The Knicks posted just their third road win of the season after blowing all of a 16-point third-quarter lead, then trailing by eight with 2:57 left.
Porzingis scored seven straight points to lead the comeback and move the Knicks to 18-18. Porzingis’ scoring flurry started with a 3-pointer, before he scored on a right-handed slam dunk off a feed from Jack on the break, flying over DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis with 1:02 left to tie the score. Then he gave the Knicks a 103-101 lead on an 18footer. All the magic came after he had lobbied referees the past two days, upset about not getting enough calls.
“I got all the calls, most of them,’’ Porzingis said. “The little contact on the elbow that can affect my shot, I actually did [get some] today and that’s a good thing.”
Porzingis, who had shot 34 percent over the past five games, was 11-of-22 and went to the line eight times, making seven free throws.
Jack, meanwhile, added 15 points — nine in the fourth quarter — in a turnabout effort and the very unlikely hero was Joakim Noah. The exiled veteran center played the final 13 minutes because Kyle O’Quinn had foul trouble and was effective defensively while scoring four points. “Joakim was phenomenal,’’ Jack said. After Porzingis’ mid-range make, Cousins drew him into a foul and tied the score from the free-throw line with 27.4 seconds to go. Jack dribbled down the clock and drew a foul. He turned the corner past Rajon Rondo and snaked into the paint with 9.1 seconds left. Jack made both free throws for a 105-103 advantage and Anthony Davis missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer. Davis finished with 31 points.
“I made an aggressive play and got fouled,’’ Jack said. “I knew that [Porzingis’] man wasn’t going to leave him so I knew I’d probably have a nice little lane to the basket. I was able to get downhill. Jrue Holiday fouled me, hit me across the arm side of my head. I don’t play those type of games in my mind. I try to have a short-term memory.’’
The Knicks also got 15 points from Michael Beasley in 20 minutes as they finished their road trip 1-2 and improved their record away from the Garden to 3-12.
oach Jeff Hornacek was asked before the game if this was a must-win.
“We’ve gotten off to a start that probably — 35 games in to be around .500, a lot of people would not have thought that, especially with how much Tim [Hardaway Jr.] has been out,’’ Hornacek said. “But it would be nice for us to end the year and go in to next year [with a win].”
And so they did.