PORZINGIS MSG’S KING
Kristaps’ 34 power Knicks by Sacramento
ON THE final Knicks possession of the first quarter – with Kristaps Porzingis already transformed into Superman – the Latvian and rookie Frank Ntilikina connected on an alley-oop so smooth, so encouraging, it might as well have screamed, “You better get used to this.”
Ntilikina ditched his defender to force a switch, then threw up a lob in the perfect spot for the streaking Porzingis to throw it down. When the target is 7-foot-3 with a running start, there’s a lot of wriggle room. So maybe “perfect” is relative. “Frank told me he was worried the pass was too high. I told him, ‘Don’t worry, I’m going to get it,’” Porzingis said. “The more time we get together, the better feel we will have for each other. And hopefully we can get more of those highlights.”
The placement was certainly good enough. The dunk was emphatic. And the Knicks never really looked back in Saturday’s 118-91 breeze over the Kings.
“It’s been a long time since we got a win like this,” Porzingis said of having the luxury to rest starters down the stretch.
After sitting the previous game with ankle and elbow issues, Porzingis added to his legend by casually dropping 34 points. It represented the eighth game this season he scored at least 30 points for the Knicks (7-5), who’ve won seven of their last nine contests and are appearing increasingly legitimate.
Porzingis showed his versatility again Saturday. There was the dunk, the four 3-pointers, the array of post moves and midrange jumpers. Porzingis was subbed out with three minutes left in the third quarter and the Knicks in full control with a 28-point lead.
Porzingis never had to return, logging his impressive point-total in just 27 minutes with five rebounds and two blocks. Sacramento was outscored by 31 points when Porzingis was on the court.
“I don’t want to jinx it but it seems normal for (Porzingis) to have nights like this now,” coach Jeff Hornacek said. “He has such an advantage at that height. He can just shoot over guys. They can put more guys on him, and he can still just get the shot over.”
Porzingis said he wanted to stay in the game to eclipse his career-high of 40 points. But he understood the importance of sitting. Early in the third quarter, he fell hard on his problematic right elbow and it immediately swelled to golf-ball status. It didn’t stop Porzingis’ momentum — he scored 10 more points in eight minutes before leaving the court to an ovation – but the swelling required immediate treatment. “I’m already wearing the sleeve with the compression and as soon as the swelling leaves I have no pain again,” Porzingis said.
Porzingis’ elbow bursitis is reoccurring and he said last week he may undergo an offseason procedure to fix the issue. He has thus far resisted wearing extra padding on the elbow during games, perhaps worried it would affect his jumper.
His three offdays between games proved beneficial. He recorded 16 points in the first quarter – including 2 on the alley-oop connection with Ntilikina – and elicited ‘MVP’ chants soon after tipoff.
The match up with the Kings (3-9) also provided a battle between two of the top rookie point guard – Ntilikina and Sacramento’s De’Aaron Fox. But neither were especially impactful, with Ntilikina’s assist to Porzingis serving as his lone highlight and Fox managing just eight points and two assists.
Enes Kanter (17 points, 13 rebounds) and Courtney Lee (20 points) became Porzingis’ most capable sidekicks Saturday. Tim Hardaway Jr. continued his struggles with just four points on 2-of11 shooting – including 0-for-6 from beyond the arc.