This was one team we couldn’t lose to. With Jahlil Okafor serving the first of a two-game suspension for a street brawl in Boston, the Knicks were able to win this one “comfortably” despite a lazy fourth quarter that saw them post only 18 points.
Without Okafor, the Sixers relied on perimeter shooting. But three-point defense is one of New York’s strong points, and Philly only made nine on the night. On the offensive side, Kristaps Porzingis lead the way with 17 points and 10 rebounds for his ninth double double of the season. Arron Affalo chipped in 13 points while Carmelo Anthony, obviously hampered in his first game back from strep throat, had 12 points on 5/16 shooting.
The Knicks will battle the Friday Night Curse tonight with they meet the Brooklyn Nets.
ORLANDO — We need to stay out of Florida for the foreseeable future. After dropping a turd of a performance on Monday against the Heat, I swore the team would get it together on pride alone for the Magic last night. Instead, we pretty much equaled Monday’s futility with horrid shooting from the field (37%) and sheer ineptitude from the bench.
The Magic didn’t shoot well either during the first half, but they put together a key run in the second to go up by double digits at halftime, 46-35. By the time we started hitting shots, scoring 28 points in both the third and fourth quarters, the Magic got by on getting to the line (27-32 FT) to win comfortably.
Speaking of the fouls, the Knicks were on the wrong side on many questionable ones. Jason Smith were very physical with Porzingis to the point of knocking him down and standing over him while talking trash. That move prompted Melo to get right in his face and that put an end to the nonsense. However, Smith didn’t get a tech for his behavior while Melo got one later for mouthing off.
Speaking of Melo, he and Calderon were the only ones that had strong offensive games. Melo dropped 28 points (9/17) and grabbed 13 boards. Calderon had his best scoring output as a Knick with 23 points on 50% shooting.
Four of the five starters hit double figures, but the bench failed again to keep the team in position to win. They were outscored 43-12 by Orlando’s reserves, mostly due to Victor Oladipo dropping 24 points. Some of the blame there needs to be placed on Derek Fisher’s bad rotations. Some of the lineups, like ones featuring Seraphin, O’Quinn, Thomas, Vujacic and Grant made you wonder who was supposed to score. Inevitably, lineups like that allowed Magic to stretch their leads.
Once again, a bad game from Porzingis was still productive. The Latvian rookie had 10 points (3/13 FG), 8 rebounds and 6 blocks. His best highlight was one of those blocks turning back an Oladipo dunk. His challenge in these type of games is continuing to look for smart shots over forcing it.
Fisher better be using this Thanksgiving to get his rotations together for a revenge game on Black Friday against the Heat.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Five games into the season, our rookie Kristaps Porzingis might have already found a signature move. LaMarcus Aldridge was the victim last week. This week, Porzingis caught Kevin Love in the paint with a sweet putback slam.
Kristaps Porzingis’s best game of the young season was overshadowed by a scary fall with Carmelo Anthony that resulted in a neck strain.
Late in the fourth quarter tonight against the Spurs, Porzingis fell while battling for an offensive rebound. Anthony secured the ball but tripped while going up for a shot. He fell with full body weight on the back of Porzingis’ neck.
The rookie was down for several minutes before rising under his own power.
X-rays were negative and a concussion was “ruled out,” Knicks officials confirmed. The strain is being viewed as a “soft tissue injury.”
Porzingis scored struggled with his shot (5/15, 13 points), but was a force on the glass with 14 rebounds (8 offensive), and on defense with 3 steals and 2 blocks. The Spurs would win the game 94-84.
At press time, Porzingis is expected to be reevaluated tomorrow.
Kristaps Porzingis is gaining confidence before our eyes. The towering 7’3 rookie had his best game (13 pts, 14 rebs, 3 stls, 2 blks) tonight against the Spurs in a losing effort. He also delivered the best play of his young Knick career via this emphatic putback slam over LaMarcus Aldridge. I can’t remember ever seeing him this fired up.
![[Video] The Real 6 God: Porzingis’s 24 pts, 14 rebs, 7 blks Leads Knicks Over Rockets](https://nykloyalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/porzingis_rockets.jpg?w=534&h=401&crop=1)
![[Video] Porzingis’ Career High 29 Leads Knicks Over Hornets](https://nykloyalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/melo_porzingis.jpg?w=716&h=510&crop=1)
![[Video] Robbed? Refs Waive Off Porzingis Buzzer-Beater, Hornets Escape with 95-93 Win](https://nykloyalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/porzingis_buzzerbeater.jpg?w=825&h=510&crop=1)
![[Video] The Putback God Chronicles: Porzingis Elevates Over Three Raptors](https://nykloyalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/porzingis_scola.jpg?w=716&h=510&crop=1)
![[Video] Watch Kristaps Porzingis’ Putback Slams](https://nykloyalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/porzingisjpg.jpg?w=635&h=510&crop=1)
![[Video] Another One: Porzingis Slams a Putback Over Kevin Love](https://nykloyalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/kristapsporzingis_kevinlove.jpg?w=717&h=510&crop=1)
![[Video] Porzingis Throws Down Putback Slam Over LaMarcus Aldridge](https://nykloyalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/porzingis_firedup.jpg?w=641&h=359&crop=1)
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