Kristaps Porzingis goes for new career high in The Garden
Just a night after taking down the Cavs behind his 32 point effort, Kristaps Porzingis hung a new career high on the Denver Nuggets on the way to a 116-110 victory. The game featured an intriguing matchup between revolutionary young big men Porzingis and Nikola Jokic.
The two eastern European centers put on a show that made it hard to peel your eyes from the screen. Jokic dazzled with his flashy passing and creative scoring while the Unicorn fired back with an array of long range bombs and boisterous dunks.
New York’s win and loss column have now drawn neck and neck as Porzingis has led the way for a Knicks team desperate for leadership and identity. Meanwhile, the loss gave the Nuggets a losing record as prized addition Paul Milsap continued his shivery shooting from the floor.
Since joining the Nuggets, things have gone anything but according to plan for the four time Allstar. While he has delivered with his vision and defense in the past when his shot’s gone cold, he hasn’t seemed to be able to get much going in any facet of his game. It’s still early in the season and he has plenty of time for improvement, but the Nuggets must be concerned with how the pairing of Jokic and Milsap has turned out so far.
Although Milsap has failed to live up to the rather lofty expectations of carrying a team on the fringe of the playoffs into contention, teammate Jokic has thrived in his new position as the alpha. The Joker lost plenty of pounds and worked to improve his outside jumper in the offseason, and his results haven’t been anything short of phenomenal. Not only has he raised his three point shooting numbers despite throwing up more attempts, but his deplorable defense has now risen to levels of mediocrity that were once thought to be impossible for the Serbian center.
Even with shooting woes across the board, their offense trails only the league leading Los Angeles Lakers with six double digit scorers as they find themselves in position to make potentially league altering moves before the trade deadline. If Denver is able to unload point guard Emmanuel Mudiay in a rumored trade for the Phoenix Suns Eric Bledsoe, the Nuggets may be one star caliber piece away from competing against the best in the West.
