New York Knicks Kristaps Porzingis Out Several Days
New York Knicks power forward Kristaps Porzingis suffered an ankle injury against the Cleveland Cavaliers and will miss several days.
The New York Knicks suffered a big loss on Thursday against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Not only did the Cavaliers smoke them on the court, winning 119-104, the Knicks suffered a loss that wasn’t on the scoreboard.
In the first half of the game Kristaps Porzingis hobbled off the court. People speculated that maybe the Achilles injury that nagged him earlier in the season flared up again. It ended up being a new injury, as Porzingis sprained his ankle.
Porzingis was not able to return to the game and was seen in a walking boot after the game. Adrian Wojnarowski reports that the injury will keep Porzingis out several days. One positive out of a bleak situation is that there isn’t any ligament damage, just swelling.
Source: Knicks' Kristaps Porzingis will be out several days with ankle injury, but no ligament damage. For now, only swelling.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 24, 2017
The losses just keep coming for the Knicks in the win-loss column and in terms of injuries. Injuries were a big theme for the Knicks this season. If they were able to stay healthy, the team looked very good on paper. That has not happened and their season has been torpedoed because of injuries and off-court shenanigans.
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Porzingis is just the latest in a long list of injuries this season. He himself has already missed eight games this season and seems likely to miss multiple more. Joakim Noah has missed 12 games and counting with a multitude of injuries. Derrick Rose has missed nine games with back spasms and an ankle injury. Lance Thomas, who was projected to be a key contributor on the bench, has missed 25 games because of lower body injuries and a fractured orbital bone.
Several other Knicks have suffered from and battled nagging injuries all season. Carmelo Anthony has a shoulder problem and Courtney Lee has had a wrist problem and Brandon Jennings suffers from Achilles soreness periodically, a result of the Achilles surgery he returned from about 13 months ago.
This has certainly been an up-and-down season for Porzingis. He has improved in some areas, such as scoring. He has pushed his points per game average up to 18.1 from 14.3 during his rookie season as his shot attempts and shooting percentages both increased.
But, he has left something to be desired in the rebounding department and defensively. He is averaging fewer rebounds this season than last season despite playing 4.3 more minutes per game. He is still a good rim protector but struggles in one-on-one defense.
Porzingis still has plenty of time to improve at only 21-years old. For now, the focus needs to be on getting him healthy. The Knicks should not let him back on the court until he is 100 percent healthy. He came back too early from his Achilles injury the first time and it impacted him negatively. The team cannot allow that to happen again.
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The Knicks aren’t going anywhere this season and Porzingis being healthy should be their No.1 concern. Losses won’t hurt the Knicks this season, as they own their lottery pick and the more losses they have the better chance of landing a top pick.