[Video] The Real 6 God: Porzingis’s 24 pts, 14 rebs, 7 blks Leads Knicks Over Rockets

 

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Who knew all we needed was some Latvian magic to break our streak of futility against the Rockets? Having lost the last 11 encounters dating back to 2004, the Knicks held tough and rode Kristaps Porzingis remarkable two-way performance to beat Houston 107-102.

Even without Dwight Howard’s presence, Porzingis still had to contend with an array of defenders like Terrance Jones and Trevor Ariza. But KP showed his versatility in punishing the Rockets with threes, deep jumpers and even running hook shots. Along with his 24 points, Porzingis added 14 rebounds (5 offensive) and 7 blocks, the first rookie to do so since Shaquille O’Neal in 1992.

Although Porzingis lead the way, it was a full team effort. Four of the five starters hit double figures, and Langston Galloway lead the bench with 12 points.

Games like this show another value to Porzingis’ potential that’s been overlooked. If he develops into the star we think he can be, that will add at least three more productive years to Melo’s career. Melo had a quiet night logging just 25 minutes (14 points, 50% shooting), but he didn’t need to push himself because KP handled the load. In years past, how often did we see Melo push himself through rough nights and get beat up because there was no help with the scoring load?

The scary thing is, we’re going to get nights where both Melo and KP are on fire. And when that happens, it’ll be a sight to see.

https://youtu.be/ucoG_5zXcaA

 

[Video] Knicks Hold Off Late Thunder Run, Win 93-90

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AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki

 

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK — We still haven’t fixed our fourth quarter woes, but I’ll tolerate them if we keep pulling out victories. Last night, the Knicks saw their 16-point lead erased by a 24-11 run in the fourth quarter but avoided overtime and defeated the Thunder on the road 93-90.

Bad fourth aside, there was a lot of good to take away from this one. Melo was clutch (aside from two missed free throws) in his 25 points, hitting some timely shots to OKC at bay. Lance Thomas and Derrick Williams were our biggest bench contributors with a combined 21 points with 60% shooting from downtown.

Speaking of threes, New York  was 12/20 on the night while holding OKC to 10% (3/29) from deep.

Nonetheless, the Thunder were one lucky bounce from taking this game into overtime. We lost the rebounding battle badly (36-49) and will need to tighten that up tonight against the Rockets.

https://youtu.be/g8qvMpwhio0

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https://youtu.be/26YjkRN-KUc

[Video] Marvin Williams Ejected for Flagrant on Lou Amundson

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Lou Amundson has a patch of hair missing and a glued-shut wound thanks to a blatant elbow tonight from the Hornets’ Marvin Williams.

On the previously play, Williams hit the deck while battling with Amundson. Taking exception Williams retaliated on the next trip down via a hard elbow swipe.

Williams now faces a one-game suspension for the foul.

[Video] Porzingis’ Career High 29 Leads Knicks Over Hornets

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AP/Julie Jacobson

“POR-ZING-IS!” “POR-ZING-IS!” “POR-ZING-IS!”

I think it’s safe to say we’ll be hearing that chant at Madison Square Garden for years to come. With no foul trouble holding him back, Kristaps Porzingis put it all together tonight with the best game of his young career (29 points, 11 rebounds) as the Knicks beat the Hornets 102-94. Although this was yet another game with fourth quarter woes, our team showed resilience in tightening up and getting the job done.

DREAM SHAKES AND LETHAL LONG-BALL: Porzingis was all over the court tonight. His teammates kept him involved on the perimeter and fed him down low. His showed how killer he can be in the post with a smooth Dream Shake fadeaway. His hands were active around the basket and that made Melo confident in feeding him for layups:

Offensively he came through for us. It felt good to hear his name chanted in the arena. I’m proud of him.

Melo’s passing (5 assists) and rebounding (11) were strong, but his shooting touch was off (6/18). He missed numerous layups at the rim, and usually a night like this would produce a Knicks loss. Porzingis showed his value in not just being a strong second option, but also being able to take over on a cold Melo shooting night.

And when we have nights where both are shooting well and scoring over 20? Whew, watch out league…

HORNETS 2ND UNIT HAS OUR NUMBER: Once again, the Hornets benched outscored ours 41-27. Jeremy Lin had a strong second quarter where he got to the rim at will (13 points). Even Spencer Hawes was balling for a stretch, hitting two three pointers and finishing with 14 points. Luckily, the Hornets as a whole took some sloppy shots late in the fourth and the Knicks were able to pull away. Kemba Walker decided he wanted to show out for his hometown (31 points), but his one-man show wasn’t enough.

UNSUNG HEROES: Much attention will be paid to Porzingis’ big night, but several cast members made this victory possible. Arron Affalo looked for his shot the entire night, dropping 16 points and doing his part (along with Melo) to hold Nic Batum to 1/9 shooting. Langston Galloway (9 points, 4 rebounds) continues to hit clutch shots (usually threes) to lift our team in key moments. His three to close the third put us up 80-72. The Hornets would get close, but never got the lead.

 

[Video] Melo and Seraphin Lead Knicks Past Pelicans 95-86

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NEW YORK –  We got another home win! There were some nail-biting moments in the fourth, but it was the Pelicans who struggled more in crunch time as the Knicks rode huge efforts from Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Seraphin to hold off the Pelicans 95-87. Coach Fisher still have lots to work out in regards to rotations, but our group is remaining confident and making the most of their minutes.

SERAPHIN STEPS UP: The Knicks need a “X-factor” contribution every night to win most games, and on Sunday that came from Frenchman Kevin Seraphin. No doubt inspired by the recent tragic attacks in his country, Seraphin provided 12 points which helped offset a monstrous performance by Anthony Davis (36 points, 11 rebounds, 4 blocks). Seraphin shot 6/8 and hit some clutch fourth quarter shots on Davis, which I believe slowed The Brow down enough to help New York slip away.

MELO UNDER CONTROL: Carmelo Anthony had one of his most complete games of the season, notching 29 points on 52% shooting to go with 12 rebounds. He got seven free throws, stayed aggressive going to the basket, and was smart with his long and mid-range shots. When he missed a few in a row, he made sure to look to get teammates involved and didn’t force matters.

PORZINGIS FEARLESS IN SCHOOLING: Our rookie got abused by Davis more often than not, but he stayed aggressive and looked for his shot all night. This was in spite of Davis blocking him several times.

We’re now hovering right below .500 again as the Hornets come to town Tuesday night. We better be looking for revenge.

 

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[Video] Robbed? Refs Waive Off Porzingis Buzzer-Beater, Hornets Escape with 95-93 Win

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Karma for Toronto? What should have been the biggest highlight of Kristaps Porzingis’ young career turned into massive disappointment when his three-point buzzer beater was waived off for being a millisecond too late.

Here’s my take — I’m not mad at the refs for calling it off. From most angles, the ball appears on Kris’ fingertips with 0.0 remaining on the clock. My main problem is the time he was given to make the shot. Zoeller’s layup on the previous play should have left 0.08 on the clock instead of the 0.06 we were given. If that had been done, Porzingis would rightly have his buzzer beater.

Nonetheless, that’s not why we lost. The rotations were head-scratchers at times and one the catalysts that helped Charlotte erase two double-digit leads we had in the second half. Robin Lopez has proven to be our best defensive big and needs to be coming in the fourth as early as possible. Amundson needs to be in the rotation before Kevin Seraphin. And speaking of Kevin, playing him and Derrick Williams at the same time should never be done again. Losing this game rests solely on being outscored 14-26 in the final 12 minutes (Note: a lot of it was due to dumb fouls on NY’s part). Not to mention Charlotte dominated the bench battle 45-29.

Despite the bad bench play, we had a few bright spots. Arron Affalo looked good offensively in his first game back. He had 12 points (50% FG) and 6 rebounds in 28 minutes. The only issue for him was defense as Nic Batum beat him off screens several times. Porzingis notched another double double (10 points, 15 rebounds), and Melo had a scorcher of a second half to finish with 29 points.

The Knicks will quickly have to put this heartbreak behind them as the Cavaliers come to town on Friday.

https://youtu.be/GTwGtJnSgys

[Video] The Putback God Chronicles: Porzingis Elevates Over Three Raptors

Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press
Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press

Kristaps Porzingis was back at last night in the Knicks’ 111-109 road win over the Toronto Raptors. Late in the second quarter, he flew over THREE RAPTOR PLAYERS to deliver a vicious putback on a Carmelo Anthony miss. It’s getting to the point where we’ll start being disappointed if we don’t see this every game.

[Video] Melo Leads Knicks with 24, Spoils Kobe’s “Final” MSG Appearance

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NEW YORK — The Knicks executed in crunch time to secure their first home win of the season over an inspired Lakers, beating Kobe Bryant in what may be the future Hall of Famer’s final appearance at Madison Square Garden.

This was the team’s first afternoon game of the year and it showed. There was a general lack of fire in the first half and that allowed the Lakers to hang around. Bryant, who finished with 18 points, hit the majority of his early jumpers while Melo was relatively quiet with just 7 points.

Things turned in the third when Derek Fisher was ejected for letting the refs have it for a questionable foul on Kristaps Porzingis for challenging Bryant’s three-point attempt.  From there things seemed to pick up. But the Laker bigs, lead by Roy Hibbert (18, 10 rebounds), helped Los Angeles tremendously with their offensive rebounding.

The Knicks finally pulled away via an 11-0  run in the final 2 minutes to go up 98-90. The blitz was ignited by a clutch three-pointer from Langston Galloway (14 points) and four timely free throws from Carmelo Anthony, who scored 11 points in the fourth and finished with 24.

Robin Lopez had his best game of the season, nabbing 13 rebounds (5 off.) and scoring 14 points. Porzingis continued his double double ways (12 pts., 10 reb.) in 26 minutes.

Most importantly, Jose Calderon found his shot today and contributed 14 points (6/12), 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. On defense, he wasn’t torched by rookie D’Angelo Russell (6 pts).

New York is back in action on Tuesday against the Toronto Raptors.

https://youtu.be/GP6lkRoOzyk

Fisher Considering Backcourt Change

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After a woeful performance last night against the Bucks, Derek Fisher is mulling a change to his starting backcourt of Jose Calderon and Sasha Vukacic.

The two combined for just 2 points (1/8) in New York’s 99-92 loss to Milwaukee. Although limited to just 3 minutes in the second half, Calderon was at the helm when the Knicks went down by 14 in the first quarter and was a -7 for the game. Vujacic played 27 minutes, including late in the fourth and was a -17 for the night.

“If there’s a decision that needs to be made, we’ll make it based on the team and not necessarily on one guy,” Fisher told ESPN today.”…Whether it’s the same (Sunday), we’ll see. We’ll talk about it today and then in the morning and go from there.”

The Knicks host the L.A. Lakers at the Garden on Sunday.

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Thank you Fisher for seeing the obvious. I understand, to a degree, why Fisher has been hesitate to bench Jose and Sasha. Langston Galloway and Jerian Grant have shown great chemistry in the second unit, so it’s risky tinkering with their rhythm and sticking that group with a plodding PG like Calderon. However, the alternative is what we’re doing now and that can’t continue. Fish can mix and match subs as needed, but the game should be starting and ending with your best available players. Right now that group is Grant, Galloway, Melo, KP and Lopez. Barring foul trouble or someone else getting hot, that’s how it should be.

What’s your take? Have you had enough of Calderon and Vujacic in the starting lineup?

[Video] Watch Kristaps Porzingis’ Putback Slams

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I’m just trying bring energy to the team, trying to go for every offensive rebound. Second chance points are huge in the NBA. – Porzingis

Six games into his NBA career, Kristaps Porzingis has already delivered some highlight-reel putback slams against elite opposition. Last night against the Bucks, he had his best one over Greg Monroe. Check out this compilation of his biggest putbacks.