It’s a safe guess that Knicks-Heat was a big draw in Slovenia on Monday night. 500 to 7-6 with a victory. During the run-up to the draft, the general consensus was that he’d fall somewhere on the Nowitzki-Bargnani Tall Euro Who Can Shoot But Might Be Charmin-Soft scale, even if Porzingis himself tried to warn everyone that wasn’t the case. “Hopefully we can hoist one or two [championship trophies] before that happens”. What was a nip-and-tuck affair throughout – neither team led by more than seven points – reached a crescendo in the fourth quarter, with the teams trading mini-spurts down to the stretch. Kristaps Porzingis, on the other hand, isn’t.
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All the signs are there that the Knicks’ rookie can eke out a fantastic career in such a role, representing a multifaceted modern day big man with the potential to terrorize the league for years. I don’t want any credit for that.
“I felt pretty good with his minutes where they’re at”.
Houston finally went ahead at 99-98 on Corey Brewer’s two foul shots with 1:41 left.
Calderon and Anthony have both had a positive influence on Porzingis, who is mindful to always compliment his more accomplished teammates. One source said the situations are different. But Porzingis comes with this happy caveat: Hardly anybody is warning he’s some flash in the pan, as plenty of cynics did with Lin.
“I knew he would do well as a coach”, Nick Collison said.
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The Knicks have now won four in a row, while snapping an 11-game losing streak to the Rockets and a 10-game losing streak when playing in Houston. Overall opponents are only shooting 30.3 percent when Melo covers them. It’s not just his 24 points 14 rebounds, and his seven blocks, but it was how he he got those number.
Last night on Fallon, the Knicks’ unofficial mascot was asked about the Knicks’ 20-year-old rookie and had nothing but the highest praise. Did the Knicks really foresee seven-block nights out of the rookie? “He’s 7’3”, he’s only 20, he’s going to put on some more pounds, and he can play. “He’s so smart and committed”. That only fed the idea that Porzingis’ slight frame might snap like a breadstick once he got into the National Basketball Association trenches, even if he’s playing power forward for now and not center.
“He’s tall. He’s skilled”. “He started calling me Zinger and it was just like, yeah”. I really wasn’t consistent. This is a level higher. He caught a break Saturday in Houston when the built-like-a-brick Howard sat out, though Porzingis didn’t see it that way.
He’s actually far more advanced than most first-year players after spending three seasons as a professional in Spain.
“Call it out in the film session so everybody can see that and hear that”. He’s a big presence in the paint.
“Games like this, we’ve got to get it done”, Harden said.
As recently as a week ago, Porzingis struggled with his touted perimeter jumper.
“He’s taking over”, Spike said. His free-throw rate is a golden 82.3 percent.
Porzingis’ reaction: “Yeah. I saw it….” Splitting these kinds of teams would give the Knicks a chance to stay in the playoff race throughout the season, and continuing to go two out of three against middle-of-the-pack teams would put them in a position to secure a playoff berth and avoid LeBron in the first round, something very few fans and pundits in NY predicted before the season. Coach Derek Fisher said he would continue to exercise caution.
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“That’s the thing that every game, every season I have to get better at and just be more consistent so I can make sure I help the team every game”.
