You kidding me? A 7-foot-3 dude coming off a curl, catching it and then spinning in the paint prior to the one-hand flush? Forget about it. Kristaps Porzingis. #Knicks pic.twitter.com/CAI4Z8894o
— Elite Sports NY (@EliteSportsNY) January 11, 2018
New York Knicks forward welcomes Robin Lopez back to Madison Square Garden with a one-handed slam that’s worthy of a poster.
If you have ever wondered why people call Kristaps Porzingis a unicorn, just watch this play. Seven-foot-three big men should not be able to do things like this.
After catching off of the curl, KP spins between two defenders and throws down a one-handed slam right in former Knick Robin Lopez’s face (video above). Lopez really never had a chance. Once Porzingis splits the defense, you could tell that Lopez was about to be put on a poster.
This season, we’ve seen Porzingis lean more towards his outside and mid-range game as opposed to getting inside and electrifying with high-flying dunks. He’s been less active on the inside and especially on the offensive glass.
This move is encouraging to see from Porzingis because the spot where he catches the ball is right where he loves to take a large percentage of his shots. It would have been easy for him to catch and shoot the mid-range jumper, but it also would have been lazy.
He’s gotta stop settling for shots and take what the defense is giving him. By staying aggressive and getting to the rim, Porzingis is showing his ability to recognize defense on the fly. In turn, this aggressiveness will open up his mid-range game that we all know he loves.
KP came out aggressively in the first quarter and scored 10 first-quarter points on 5-for-10 from the field. He’s been struggling of late and it’s nice to see him stay confident. This team is going to go as far as KP takes them.
This was the type of player Porzingis needs to be for the entire game. Mixing up his game and trying to keep the defense guessing because when you get them off balance you can make plays like this.
