The rapidly-improving Kristaps Porzingis has been largely the reason the New York Knicks are sitting at the .500 mark after many unpredictable events have kept the team from finding a winning formula.
The 7-foot-3 power forward has refined his outside shot as well as his post-up game, but he insists it's not so much the work he's put into honing his craft but how the game has slowed down for him in his second season.
“I didn’t add 1,000 moves to my post game. It’s just I'm more calm when I'm in the post,” he told ESPN's Ian Begley after scoring 31 points in Tuesday's win over Portland. “When I get the ball and take my time, nobody can really get to my shot. I’m realizing how long I am and how difficult it is to bother my shot. I think it’s more that, obviously, I worked on my post game, but it’s more that experience, just knowing how to use my length.”
Porzingis is scoring at a 21-point per game clip, second only to Carmelo Anthony (22.5 points per game) on the team. The Latvian international is shooting 50 percent from the floor and 39 percent beyond the arc, making him a lethal weapon regardless of his location on the court.
He's maturing rapidly within the system and has dropped a 35 and a 31-point game in the Knicks last four. Head coach Jeff Hornacek has allowed him to stay on the floor for longer stretched and the lengthy unicorn has rewarded him accordingly.
New York has won four out of its last five games and the team might just have something figured out heading into Friday's matchup with the Charlotte Hornets.
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