Wednesday night's matchup against the Orlando Magic proved to be a bit of an emotional encounter for New York Knicks wing Mario Hezonja. The 24-year-old, who played his first three seasons with the Magic prior to signing with the Knicks in the offseason as a free agent, apparently had a verbal agreement with Knicks head coach David Fizdale that he was going to play a pivotal part in the matchup.

According to Marc Berman of the New York Post, Fizdale made a promise to Hezonja that he was going to get the start against the Magic no matter what:

In January, Fizdale guaranteed Hezonja that in the Knicks’ last game in Orlando — which happened to be Wednesday — no matter what the situation, he would start him. Hezonja had missed the Knicks’ initial November encounter here with food poisoning.

Hezonja stepped up when asked upon, and came up with one of his biggest performances of the season against his former team. The former fifth overall pick posted 29 points (on 11-of-22 shooting) along with nine rebounds, five assists, and two steals before fouling out after 34 minutes of action.

Coach Fizdale raved about Hezonja's play following his remerkable outing on Wednesday:

“Super Mario,’’ Fizdale crowed. “I’m just really happy for him. I told him: Perform for Orlando. He came out and showed what he can do.’’

Hezonja is currently on a one-year deal with the Knicks and is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer. He has not exactly been lighting it up for New York this season (8.5 points, 3.9 rebounds, 1.2 assists in 20.1 minutes per ballgame), so a big money deal in the offseason is probably not forthcoming for the 6-foot-8 forward.