Subscribe
Follow Us
in his third year, New York Knicks forward Kristaps Porzingis is off to an impressive offensive start to the 2017-18 NBA season.
Porzingis currently ranks second in the league with 30.2 points per game while also surpassing Hall of Famer Bernard King for the most points scored in franchise history through the first nine games of a season. It has put him in the early conversation for the NBA MVP award given his play while leading the Knicks to a 5-4 record.
Despite that being the case, Porzingis has his eyes set on possibly reaching some other personal goals this season, according to Ian Begley of ESPN.
Kristaps Porzingis on hearing MVP chants at MSG: “I'm not thinking about that too much. I said my goals for the season were most improved player of the year. I felt like I had an opportunity also not exactly this year – I want to get it this year (but) in my career I think I have the opportunity to win defensive player of the year and also the all-star game is a goal for me individually. But all those things are going to come if we win games… so I'm happy as long as we're playing this way.”
The manner in which Porzingis is playing on both ends of the floor could make each of those aspirations attainable. His huge jump offensively could help him earn the Most Improved Player award while putting him in line to earn his first All-Star Game selection.
Although he has taken up the spot as the top scoring option for the Knicks, Porzingis has been able to remain a huge factor defensively. He is currently second in the league with a career-high 2.22 blocks per game. This includes registering at least a block in all but two games while recording multiple blocks in five of the last six games with a season-high six blocks in Sunday's win over the Indiana Pacers.
If Porzingis can continue on his relative pace on both ends of the floor, it should put him in line to at least be contention to reach each of these personal goals this season.
