Carmelo Anthony plans to win National Basketball Association titles with Kristaps Porzingis

Porzingis has said that he was a fan of his now teammate Carmelo Anthony’s own cornrows as a youngster, so it’s not hard to see where his hairstyle inspiration came from.

Ironically, the Knicks will face Miami’s Justise Winslow, whom they considered drafting at No. 4.

“I knew he would do well as a coach”, Nick Collison said. Fans at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn showered him with boos when he was drafted with the fourth pick overall back in June. Amare Stoudemire was back on the inactive list, one game after coming up with a 10-point first quarter that helped Miami beat Sacramento. Did the Knicks really foresee seven-block nights out of the rookie?

If Anthony was initially annoyed by a few of the Knicks’ offseason moves – and he has denied that he ever was – he has since become one of Porzingis’ most vocal advocates.

“The latest accomplishment in Porzingis” persuasive rookie campaign came on Saturday in a 107-102 win against the Houston Rockets. It’s not just his 24 points 14 rebounds, and his seven blocks, but it was how he he got those number.

The Rockets threw a wide variety of defenders Porzingis’ way, utilizing Harden’s strength, Trevor Ariza’s length or Terrence Jones’ combination of those two attributes. He may not be Charles Oakley mean, but the 7-footer has athletic ability that had transformed the Knicks defensively. Jose Calderon plays 6.9 fourth quarter minutes per game, fourth-highest on the team. A pull up jumper then casually, calmly nailing four free throws during crunch time.

There hasn’t been a Knicks victory worthy of recognition since that debacle was produced, either, but we digress.

Anthony picked up his third foul early in the second quarter and his fourth foul early in the third and was forced to watch much of the game from the bench. One was Kristaps. The other was foul trouble, which led to him playing only 25 minutes.

Hassan Whiteside leads the league with 4.8 blocked shots per game, so expect a battle for the paint between two of the league’s biggest front lines. NY would never relinquish the lead from that point on, and finally knocked off the Rockets. After seeing the big fella in action this season, the chatter has shifted to a different worldwide big man, Pau Gasol, who thrived in the triangle offense. Entering tonight’s contest, they hadn’t won a game in Houston since the night before Malice at the Palace. Last season, they needed 30 more encounters spread over two more months to claim their eighth triumph. We don’t have to ask him to do anything. “He’s not trying to impress everybody and show ‘I’m capable of doing certain things.’ I think he’s doing his best to play the game, and whatever presents itself, he’s taking advantage of it”.

After being on top of the world for a night, the Houston Rockets fell back to Earth with another devastating loss and piss-poor shooting performance that’d make “Pistol Pete” Maravich roll over in his grave. Jahlil Okafor scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, while Noel finished with 10 points. Cleanthony Early (healthy scratch) was inactive for a sixth consecutive game….

Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade celebrates after scoring during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Philadelphia 76ers, Saturday, November 21, 2015, in Miami. The Jets visit the Houston Texans on Sunday.