New York Knicks‘ Kristaps Porzingis was shut down by All-Star forward Draymond Green last season. On Thursday, he’s out for revenge.
New York Knicks forward Kristaps Porzingis was seemingly incredible on a nightly basis last season. Two of the few nights he wasn’t happened during his matchups against Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors.
The Knicks take on Green’s Warriors Thursday night and according to Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News Porzingis is ready for his nemesis.
“Right after the game was over (last season) I was thinking when was the next time we were going to get a chance to play against them,” he said. “I’m ready for him.”
Carmelo Anthony, Green’s Olympic teammate this summer, said his fellow gold medalist would be looking forward to seeing KP as well.
“He’s going to try to be physical with him, he’s going to talk the way Draymond talks. Don’t feed into it,” Anthony said. “It’s just Draymond’s passion for the game of basketball. It’s nothing personal. I’ve dealt with it all summer (on the Olympic team). Just be ready for that. I’m pretty sure it’s a matchup Draymond is looking forward to. And as a competitor like KP, he’s looking forward to that matchup.”
Green has been named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team for the past two seasons and is viewed as one of the best defenders in the league. Despite his size (6-foot-7), he can guard almost any position on the court.
In their two matchups last season, Porzingis averaged 8.0 points and 6.5 rebounds on a slash line of .210/.500/.750. The Knicks lost both games by a combined 57 points.
Conversely, Green had a triple-double at Madison Square Garden on a perfect 9-9 from the field.
There’s no shame in what happened to Porzingis as a rookie. Everyone gets locked up by Draymond Green. That’s why this matchup will be so interesting. It’s one of the league’s toughest players to defend against one of the league’s best defenders.
