Coming out of the All-Star break Kristaps Porzingis looked well-rested and ready to pick up right where he left off. Taking on the New York Knicks in front of a home crowd, Porzingis came out firing on all cylinders.
The Unicorn was as Chris Miller loves to say, “hotter than fish grease” in the first 12 minutes of the game. Porzingis played the entire first quarter, scoring 19 points and knocking down all five of his shots from beyond the arc. These were two personal career highs in a quarter for Porzingis.
After starting the game off red hot, it seemed like a flip was switched in Porzingis’ game. Through the next two quarters Porzingis failed to score a single point, as it’s hard to do so when you do not take a single shot. What did not help Porzingis’ case was that he went to the Wizards' locker room in the third quarter with an apparent quad injury, according to head coach Wes Unseld Jr.
Porzingis did end up returning from the locker room and had a huge block down the stretch on the Knicks' best player all night, Julius Randle. New York would go on to win, however, 115-109
Porzingis finished the game with 23 points on 5-10 shooting and knocked down all eight of his free throws. The Wizards big man has been on an absolute tear since the Dec. 20 mark. He is the only player in the NBA since that time frame who has posted at least 20 points, has shot 50% from the field, 40% from beyond the three-point line, 90% from the free throw line and has recorded at least one block per contest.
The Wizards and Porzingis will look to bounce back on Sunday afternoon when they head to the windy city to take on the Chicago Bulls.