I'LL BE BACK
Porzingis vows to be ‘better and stronger’ once he recovers from torn ACL
Looking dapper in a beige sports jacket and sounding upbeat, Kristaps Porzingis was back at the Garden on Tuesday night for the first time since tearing his ACL — and he said he’s confident he will return to All-Star form.
But the fallen 7-foot-3 Latvian said he couldn’t give an estimate as to when he will be able to play his next game for the Knicks, saying he was “shocked’’ when doctors gave him the diagnosis of a torn left ACL on the night of his injury, Feb. 6. Por- zingis, after mingling with his teammates in the locker room, was introduced to the Garden crowd before the Knicks’ 110-97 loss to the Mavericks.
“Not at all,’’ Porzingis said when asked if he thinks he will be back to All-Star level. “I believe I’m going to come back better and stronger. I believe that things happen for a reason. And if this ever had to happen this is probably, not to say a good moment, but if it had to happen, it happened now and I’m going to be able to use these last two months of the season and the whole offseason to work my body. ’’
Another All-Star berth probably won’t happen next season, because his return likely will come as the 2018-19 voting is wrapping up. Indications are Porzingis, who tore his ACL weeks before playing in his first All-Star Game, will be out 10 to 12 months with the earliest possible return right before Christmas.
“I can’t give you anything,’’ Porzingis said. “I have no idea. You should ask the doctor, maybe. And he would tell you something. And myself, I’m just going day by day really, and we’ll see where is the comeback at. There is no timetable for now. It’s pretty far off to put a timetable out there.’’
Porzingis suffered the ACL tear after a dunk attempt on the Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo, when he landed awkwardly, his leg buckling. He stayed down for a few minutes, clutching his knee and appeared to be in agony. But Tuesday, in his first comments on the injury, Porzingis said he thought at the time he would be able to make a quick return.
“There wasn’t much of a roller coaster,’’ he said. “I found out the news. I was shocked at
first. I couldn’t believe that it happened to me, and then about 30 seconds later I said, ‘OK what can I do now? Now it’s just time for me to make a comeback and focus on the next thing.’
“Honestly at that moment it was sharp pain right when the injury happened,’’ Porzingis added. “But when I got up, started walking a bit, I felt better with every step. Once I got to the locker room, it was like ‘Can I get back into the game?’ I almost felt that good.
“When they did the [manual] testing, doctors already had a bad feeling about it. I thought it was a sprain. I didn’t feel a pop. Once it happened on the floor, I was trying to get back as soon as possible. I don’t want to be on the floor too long, then it’s just a sprain, then I got the bad news.’’
Porzingis said the silver lining is — despite the intensive knee rehab — he still will be able to work on his core strength as well as on things he never has done before.
“I’m going to be able to use this time to work on myself, to work on myself physically and mentally and use this time for things I never had time before,’’ Porzingis said. “I never stopped really throughout my career. This is a good time for me to do this. We’ll see. I’m thinking every day about the day I come back and start playing again. That’s going to be the most positive moment.
“I’m seeing that light at the end of the tunnel, when I’m going to be back, when I’m going to be playing and enjoying the game I love so much.”
Porzingis won’t be able to sit on the bench, for precautionary reasons, the rest of the season. He said he’ll cheer from home “with my leg up.’’ He will rehab here until after the season and said he’s unsure if he will go back to Latvia for a while to continue his rehab.