Kristaps Porzingis' scoring explosion hasn't only been a by-product of his offseason workload, but also of the mere opportunity.
The departure of Carmelo Anthony for the Oklahoma City Thunder days prior to Media Day have opened a huge window for the 7-foot-3 unicorn to put his talents on full display. Never more evident than during his 40-point outburst against the Indiana Pacers on Sunday.
“Melo’s not there,” Thaddeus Young; who drew the matchup against Porzingis at power forward told Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News after his Pacers suffered a 108-101 loss. “So he’s going to get the ball 10 or 15 more times per game. Anytime a guy sees the ball that much, the rim just gets bigger.”
Yet it wasn't only the seven-inch advantage over Young, but the sheer number of shots he's now allowed to take as the No. 1 option on this roster.
“I’m getting more looks, I’m getting more opportunities to score and be the focal point of our offense, and that helps a lot,” Porzingis said. “But also it starts from practices, from training camp, just showing that I can be that guy and I can be aggressive and I need the ball.”
“Now it’s just natural to us. We know the guys who can score the ball. We know we can all play defense, we can lock in. We established those roles from the first day. I’m happy that the things I worked on this summer and I got better at are showing now in the games.”
The Knicks now sit at 5-4, above the .500 mark for the first time this season and unthinkably soon after an 0-3 start to 2017-18.
Porzingis is now taking 7.3 additional shots per game now that he's been made the go-to guy within Jeff Hornacek's offense. The prized unicorn is now second in the league in scoring with a 30.2 point-per-game clip through nine games this season.
Follow Us
Subscribe