Porzingis raising bar for All-Stars
INDIANAPOLIS — Kristaps Porzingis still wants to somehow be part of All-Star Weekend, even if he’s on crutches in New York next Sunday.
As hokey as it might sound, Porzingis is sending boxes of his new “Zing Bars” special delivery to Los Angeles to distribute to his Team LeBron teammates.
“I won’t be playing this year, but wanted to send a little ZING to my fellow AllStars to let them know I will be there in spirit,” Porzingis said in a statement.
According to Zing Bar officials, Porzingis had planned to arrive in Los Angeles with a duffel bag filled with the “KP6 Porzingis Box’’ of nutritional bars created to commemorate his first All-Star appear- ance. Porzingis had planned to hand them out at practice to not just Team LeBron, but selectees from Team Curry, too. A torn ACL ended his season Tuesday and halted his promotional efforts. An official from his ASM agency will hand out the boxes to the All-Stars instead. The Garden concessions began selling the coconut/peanut butter health bars last Sunday alongside their salted giant pretzels.
According to sources, Porzingis will have surgery Tuesday after which a rough timetable for his recovery will be announced. He’s expected to miss part of next season, too. He was replaced in the All-Star Game by Kemba Walker.
Porzingis was also prepared to defend his Skills Challenge crown Saturday and will be replaced by Detroit center Andre Drummond.
Sources said Porzingis had mixed feelings whether to go through with the bar promotion after his devastating injury but decided to go for it.
In his second game as a Knick, center Luke Kornet cooled off, going scoreless in 13 minutes.
Kornet missed all three of his shots, each from 3-point range. He was a minus-10 in seven first-half minutes. Kornet had a doubledouble in his NBA debut with four blocks.
MSG Network had a blackout, preventing fans from watching the Knicks pregame show, but came on in time for tipoff.
Forward Isaiah Hicks, the Knicks’ other two-way contract G-League player, did not play.