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New York Knicks: Kristaps Porzingis injury update after Memphis win

By Maxwell Ogden

NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 27: Kristaps Porzingis #6 of the New York Knicks ties his sneakers during the game against the Portland Trail Blazers on November 27, 2017 at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York. Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 27: Kristaps Porzingis #6 of the New York Knicks ties his sneakers during the game against the Portland Trail Blazers on November 27, 2017 at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York. Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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New York Knicks star Kristaps Porzingis returned to action on Wednesday, Dec. 6 against the Memphis Grizzlies. Thankfully, his ankle is no longer bothering him.

By the grace of whom or whatever you believe in, the New York Knicks narrowly avoided disaster on Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2017. Franchise player Kristaps Porzingis went down with a gruesome ankle injury, but thankfully, the severity of the ailment was limited to a sprain.

After missing two consecutive games due to the injury, Porzingis returned on Wednesday, Dec. 6 to help the Knicks secure a 99-88 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies.

Porzingis played 34 minutes against Memphis, which was as encouraging a sign as any that he was healthy again. He struggled to find his range for much of the game, but managed to close out the victory and effectively silence the skeptics.

According to Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News, Porzingis admitted to being rusty, but feels fine as far as his health is concerned.

"“I felt great physically. I felt great physically. I just wasn’t in rhythm and a little rusty. That’s it. But physically, ankle, I had no problems and body wise I felt good,” Porzingis said. “As I said I usually recover pretty quickly from things. I didn’t travel with the team to be able to stay here and do the treatment full time and three times a day, waking up early in the morning to have 8 hours between each treatment. I was really focused on that. I had the goal to come back from this game and we made it possible. It’s good to be 22.”"

Porzingis is lucky to have avoided a potentially devastating injury, but it’s worth noting that he himself committed to not playing until he was back at 100 percent.

Porzingis finished the win over Memphis with 18 points, five rebounds, one block, and a steal. He shot just 8-of-19 from the field, but buried a pair of three-point field goals and stepped up when the Knicks needed him most.

Over the course of the final three minutes and 24 seconds of the fourth quarter, Porzingis scored seven points, including a dagger three and an alleyoop from Enes Kanter.

All things considered, Porzingis moved well against the Grizzlies, and shed some of the expected rust as the game went on.

Fortunately for the Knicks, Porzingis will have two days off before he’s potentially asked to play both legs of a back-to-back. The Knicks will play the 3-20 Chicago Bulls on Saturday, Dec. 9 at the United Center, only to travel back to Madison Square Garden to host the 5-19 Atlanta Hawks on Sunday, Dec. 10.

With two days off to make sure that his ankle is truly back at 100 percent, Porzingis should be ready for the weekend grind.

Must Read: Who stepped up against the Memphis Grizzlies?

Kristaps Porzingis is back in action, and the New York Knicks are back in the win column. That’s the furthest thing from a coincidence.

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