I think that the New York Knicks offseason was by any measure a disaster. It started immediately, as the New York Post reported that Kristaps Porzingis skipped his exit interview following the last game of the 2016-17 NBA season. Phil Jackson then got run out of town. Carmelo Anthony was rumored to be traded, but first had to agree to waive his no-trade clause. He ended up getting dealt to the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Knicks drafted a point guard from France in the lottery I had never heard of as well. Needless to say, expectations were extremely low for the Knicks heading into this season and then they went out and lost their first three games.
Basketball was looking bleak in Gotham, but after securing their first victory of the season against the Brooklyn Nets, the Knicks traveled to Cleveland and beat the LeBron James-led Cavaliers. After knocking off the Denver Nuggets, New York lost to the Houston Rockets but bounced right back to take down the Phoenix Suns, pushing their record to 4-4. And last night (Nov. 5), they upended an upstart Indiana Pacers team behind a tremendous performance from Kristaps Porzingis at Madison Square Garden.
After getting down by eight points in the first quarter, the Knicks fell behind by 13 heading into halftime. With 1:43 left in the third quarter, the Pacers had extended the margin to 19 and were cruising their way to an easy victory.
Rather than packing it in, the Knicks found their New York grit and a 7-0 scoring run by Porzingis cut the lead to 12. From there it was all Knicks, led by the shot-making of Porzingis and the energy and hustle from French rookie Frank Ntilikina. New York came back to outscore the Pacers 36-17 in the final quarter to secure a seven-point win.
Knicks game MVP
You can call him The Unicorn, Porzingod, or Godzingis, but above all else, you have to recognize that Kristaps Porzingis is the Knicks' franchise. He put New York on his shoulders last night to the tune of 40 points, eight rebounds, and six blocks. And it wasn't just last night, as he's been doing it all season while averaging roughly 29 points and eight rebounds per game.
With Carmelo Anthony being traded, this is Porzingis' team, and the 7-3, 22-year old has New York excited about basketball again.
The rest of the Knicks starters
Enes Kanter came over to the Knicks in the trade for Anthony and proved to be the perfect big man complement to Porzingis. He's a high-volume rebounder and can score effectively in the paint. Against Indiana, he had nine points to go along with 18 rebounds. Tim Hardaway Jr signed a big contract in the offseason and is trying to live up to his inflated salary. His shooting has been suspect thus far, but he scored 16 points on 7-of-16 shooting on Sunday night. The starting backcourt of Jarrett Jack and Courtney Lee combined for 15 points and six assists.
The Knicks bench
Rookie Frank Ntilikina may have had his breaking out party last night. It wasn't just his 10 points and seven assists, but when he got them. He dropped several dimes to Porzingis during the Knicks' fourth-quarter run, and it was his three-pointer with less than two minutes left that gave New York the lead. Kyle O'Quinn also came off the bench to chip in eight points and seven rebounds.
