New York Knicks: The five keys to NYK’s recent success

5. Kristaps Porzingis

Over the course of the past three games, Kristaps Porzingis has been playing at an MVP-caliber level. He’s producing dominant numbers, protecting the rim, crashing the boards, and stepping up during late-game situations.

The New York Knicks have been winning as a team, but we would be remiss to discuss the keys to sustainable success and leave Porzingis off the list.

Porzingis has been stellar in five of New York’s six games, but he’s taken his game to another level during the three-game winning streak. He posted 30 points in just 29 minutes against the Brooklyn Nets, and tallied 32 points and 12 boards against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Porzingis put the bow on his brilliant run by putting up a career-high 38 points, as well as three blocks, in a 116-110 victory over the Denver Nuggets.

Without Porzingis playing like a genuine superstar, the Knicks wouldn’t have won these three games. New York will need the new franchise player to continue to step up, albeit within a more realistic construct of where his scoring averages should be.

This could easily be No. 1, but the optimal approach would include alleviating pressure from Porzingis—not asking him to average his current 29.3 points per game.