New York Knicks: Who stepped up during the home opener?

Kristaps Porzingis

For the second consecutive game, Kristaps Porzingis relished the opportunity to play as the No. 1 scoring option. He routinely posted up smaller defenders, thus resulting in the young phenom converting each of his first seven shots from the field.

While a big scoring performance is always welcome, it’s the fact that Porzingis routinely scored inside that should have fans intrigued.

Porzingis finished the clash with Detroit with 33 points, five rebounds, two assists, one block, and a steal in 35 minutes. He shot 11-of-20 from the field, 3-of-7 from three-point range, and 8-of-10 at the free throw line.

During the fourth quarter, Porzingis proved his franchise player status by forcing a 24-second violation with a block and draining a three to tie the game on the very next possession.

For the second consecutive game, a fair majority of Porzingis’ offense came from the post. He’ll need to do a better job of passing out of double teams, but on a night when the Knicks’ perimeter players couldn’t pay their shots to fall, there’s only so much he could’ve done.

Porzingis is now the first Knick to begin a regular season with back-to-back 30-point games since Patrick Ewing achieved the feat in 1993-94.

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The loss was tough to stomach, but the New York Knicks have a surplus of young talent who are gaining invaluable experience.