Kristaps Porzingis
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The New York Knicks drop their fourth straight game to the Milwaukee Bucks, but that is the least of their worries tonight.

Clyde Frazier summed up tonight during the fourth quarter when he said, “We’re actually laughing to keep from crying.” The New York Knicks and Kristaps Porzingis started the game off strong as KP scored 10 points on 4-for-5 from the field and added in three highlight reel blocks. Unfortunately, the hot start was cut short when things took a turn for the worst.

Disaster struck tonight for the Knicks. Porzingis soared for a beautiful dunk over Giannis Antetokounmpo. It should have been a poster, but KP came down awkwardly and immediately grabbed his knee. It’s always hard to know exactly how bad an injury is going to be, but this one certainly looked bad. Per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Porzingis will get an MRI, but no further details are known at this time.

There was a minor bright spot following the KP injury, but that didn’t last long. Immediately following Porzinigis’ exit, Tim Hardaway Jr. went on an individual 8-0 run and tried to singlehandedly inject a shot of life into the Garden. But this bright spot was nothing more than a fleeting moment. He capped off the run with a steal and slam, but from that point on it was all Milwaukee.

The Knicks put in a lackluster performance following the injury and allowed the Bucks to jump out to a 20 point lead midway through the third quarter. They would go on to make a couple runs in the fourth quarter, but they never gave the Bucks a real scare. Everything that could have gone wrong for the Knicks did. To add another layer to the misery, ESPN’s Ian Begley is reporting that Hardaway left the game late and was grabbing his left leg. X-Ray’s on his shin would come back negative and Begley is reporting that Jeff Hornacek says the injury is unrelated to the previous injury that sidelined him. Regardless, after struggling in his absence earlier this season, it’s clear that Hardaway is crucial to the team’s success.

There were no bright spots and no silver linings. Enes Kanter deserves a tip of the cap for gutting this one out despite taking a beating. He was hit in the mouth and banged around all night. He finished the night with 19 points and 16 rebounds. He has his flaws, but there aren’t many guys in the league who are tougher than Kanter.

The Knicks anxiety with the status of their young star contrasts directly with the Bucks and their franchise cornerstone. While Knicks fans are worrying about the status of Porzingis’ knee, Bucks fans got to watch Giannis Antetokounmpo put on a show. He finished the night with a game-high 23 points to go along with 11 rebounds and six assists. The most remarkable part of his game is that he still has a ton of room to grow. He still is going to need to develop an outside shot and still needs to work on his raw post moves, but he is further along in his development than anyone expected.

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He can run the floor with or without the ball. He can score with a silky smooth euro step or off of a thunderous alley-oop (just ask THJ). The sky is truly the limit for the 23-year-old known as the Greek Freak.

Another interesting moment from tonight’s game came when Willy Hernangomez checked in with fewer than two minutes left to play. He may be on his way out of New York and with the Thursday trade deadline looming, this may have been his last game as a Knick.

New York will look to regroup after tonight’s devastating development. The front office will surely assess where the team is at and there’s a good chance they’re going to be sellers heading into the deadline.

 NEXT: Knicks Star Says They Struggle Closing Out Games 

 

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Danny Small
NY/NJ hoops reporter (NBA/NCAA) & sports betting writer for XL Media. Never had the makings of a varsity athlete.

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