KNICKS DUNK SKID
KP & Co. avoid road collapse
NEW ORLEANS — With a mischievous smile – the kind a player would only display after a victory – Kristaps Porzingis provided the line of the night. “Really we shouldn’t be celebrating like we did,” he said. “The postman doesn’t celebrate when he delivers mail.” It was witty but totally unfitting. The Knicks have hardly been as reliable as the postman these days, or even as reliable as cell phone service in a subway car. So when they blew another fourth-quarter lead Saturday and were trailing by eight with three minutes remaining, the feeling was that the Knicks were finishing 2017 on a five-game losing streak and winless on their road trip. Except then the unlikely happened at the Smoothie King Center. The Knicks didn’t fold. Porzingis strapped on his cape and scored seven straight points in a span of one minute, including a soaring dunk between New Orleans’ twin big men, Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins. Jarrett Jack, who was benched earlier in the game, capped his fourth quarter surge with gamewinning free throws in the final nine seconds as the Knicks completed their comeback win, 105-103. “We lost four in a row and all of them were really tough losses. They were last-second, last-minute, last quarter, something close,” Porzingis said. “So a lot of times it brings the energy down and the good vibes. To get a win like this in the last minute to come back and do all that, that brings it back up. So we want to keep that positive atmosphere going forward and keep that going.” Porzingis finished with a teamhigh 30 points on 11 for 22 shooting, but none were more impressive than the jam with 1:02 remaining. He received a pocket pass from Jack and committed early to challenging Cousins and Davis in the air. The aftermath sent the Knicks’ bench into a celebrating frenzy. It also tied the score at 101, representing the first time New York hadn’t trailed since the very beginning of the fourth quarter.
“There was this one play earlier in the game when I saw DeMarcus coming and I kind of wanted to go around him to finish the layup. And he kind of hit my arm a little bit and I missed the layup. Not that it was a foul, but I went for the layup,” Porzingis said. “I was thinking, next time try to dunk it. I saw him coming again – a little better situation for me than him, and I tried to dunk it. And that’s it.”
About 30 seconds earlier, Porzingis buried a 3-pointer in Davis’ face. About 30 seconds after the dunk, he nailed another jumper in Davis’ grill to give the Knicks the advantage. But after New Orleans tied it on the ensuing possession with Cousins’ free throws, New York’s pick-and-roll couldn’t get Porzingis open and Jack was fouled driving to the hoop.
Jack, who scored nine of his 15 points in the fourth quarter, converted both foul shots. Those turned into the game winners because Davis’ 3-point attempt fell short at the buzzer. The Knicks (18-18) ensured a .500 record to start 2018. “We need all of them,” Jack said. “I always say all of them look the same in April. At the end of the season when you tallying them up, no matter if they’re home or away, no matter if they were won by 20, triple overtime. They all look the same in April. We’re trying to get as many marks in that W column as we can.”