New York Knicks: Who stepped up in win against Mavericks?
2. Allonzo Trier
Allonzo Trier doesn’t act or play like a rookie, earning his way onto the New York Knicks with an impressive training camp and standout play in the preseason. That has translated to a consistent regular-season role, with a few solid performances along the way.
Friday’s game against the Dallas Mavericks, though, proved to be the formerly undrafted free agent’s best outing yet.
In 24 minutes, Trier delivered 23 points on a stellar 8-for-10 shooting and 6-for-7 from the free throw line. This was the most efficient mark, outside of one player, and by far the most times a Knick went to the charity stripe.
An extremely efficient game for Allonzo Trier, scoring a team-high 23 points while shooting 8-of-10 from the floor and 6-of-7 from the FT line.
— Tommy Beer (@TommyBeer) November 3, 2018
Per @bball_ref, he is the first Knicks rookie ever to score more than 22 points on 10 or fewer FG attempts.
While Enes Kanter is the perceived “leader of the second unit,” there’s upside for the Arizona product to fulfill this role. He’s the streaky, ball-dominant player that can enter off the bench and provide points in bunches, which became the case in Dallas, and from various points on the court.
Kanter can act as a main bench player, but for the frontcourt, where he substitutes for the starting center and stays active as an offensive cog. Whether he enjoys this moving forward, remains to be seen.
Trier is the leading man of this bench, and just nine games in, he can continue to capitalize on this hot start.