Knicks’ Kristaps Porzingis Has Historic Night

At that moment in the offseason, the Knicks were a flamboyant disaster: the basketball embodiment of Murphy’s Law.

Out of the last 16 European players drafted in the lottery, none have gone on to make an All-Star team. And it didn’t take long for him to produce one of the best all-around games for any rookie. They probably won’t get to 60 this year, but if they aren’t a title contender, then we might as well admit that the Cavs are the only team in the East that is.

The Kristaps Porzingis show takes its talents to South Beach tonight to face the Miami Heat and the NY Knicks’ prized rookie shows up with momentum on his side. On offense, he only shot 6/18, but like I said, he hit his threes (4/7). That and the way he has been able to tune out the many critics and doubters, and fans who were booing and swearing at him every since draft night.

How wrong they were. Porzingis finished with 24 points, 17 rebounds and a career-high seven blocked shots to anchor an offensive attack that included a sizzling 12 of 25 shooting on 3-pointers. The seven footer dropped 29 points, while grabbing 11 boards in a victory against the Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday night, showcasing his skills to the league.

Coming into the 2015 National Basketball Association Draft, fans and critics were anxious to see where big name college stars, like Karl-Anthony Towns and Jahlil Okafor, would be playing out the beginning of their professional careers. 500 this late in the season since 2012-13, according to ESPN.

The Knicks improved to 8-6 overall and 5-2 on the road and have started this four-game trip with back-to-back wins. The NY Knicks were supposed to be a below. Porzingis jerseys were selling so briskly earlier this week that they temporarily sold out. Kristaps Porzingis, on the other hand, isn’t. Both were top numbers for point guards in February through April 2012.

I am team Porzingis.

Porzingis has made it clear that Zinger is not for him.

It was concern from people who didn’t know. Even beating that next tier of teams will be a tough ask, so banking wins against the ones vying for ping-pong balls will go a long way. At 30.8%, his 3-point shooting is a bit low.

“There’s certain things that you’ve got to continue doing”. Also because the refereeing is so much better, which gives him more freedom of movement.

And despite the fact that he sometimes outscores Anthony, there’s no comparing their offensive games quite yet.

Porzingis lofts up a shot against Houston. After a quiet five-point game Thursday night in Oklahoma City, he stood tall down the stretch in Houston. In the next game, he duly went out and snagged 10.

“This past two seasons when playing in Spain, I used to have ups and downs, ” Porzingis said”.

Porzingis practically genuflected at the altar of Anthony, and it was the wisest move he could have made. Judging by his rate of progress so far, that could be sooner than anyone thought.

One stat I like to use is PIE, or player impact estimate.