Kristaps Porzingis, the New York Knick’s 7’3 rookie scored a head-turning, career-high 29 points a few days against Charlotte, but that came in a loss (The Knicks were just a fingertip away from winning the game at the buzzer).
Though that Hornets game remains his career-high in points, his performance last night versus the Houston Rockets will stand out as his most dominant. It’s not just his 24 points 14 rebounds, and his seven blocks, but it was how he he got those number.
A running hook shot off the backboard over James Harden. Flicking Harden’s shot out of midair. Using his height and athleticism to tip a rebound to himself over Terrence Jones. Effortless yet confident threes. A pull up jumper then casually, calmly nailing four free throws during crunch time. All this in a season-high 26 minutes.
According to ESPN Stats & Information, Porzingis joins four other rookies in the past 20 seasons to post at 20 points, 10 rebounds and seven blocks in the same game.
Again, it’s not just the numbers, but his poise and ability to get his shots within the offense. He was efficient too; shooting 8-12 from the field, 2-3 from three and was perfect from the line in six tries.
Not only did his efforts help the Knicks pull out the win over the Rockets (he led the team with +14 plus/minus), but this proved to be his breakout performance in this early NBA season. This may have been just one game out of the 14 NBA games under his belt, but the pace in which the 20 year is picking things up, it’s scary to think what Porzingis will be 40 games in, or three years from now.