NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Kristaps Porzingis exploded with a career-best 35 points to steer the New York Knicks to a 105-102 win over the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday.
A devastating second quarter spree where the 21-year-old Latvian poured on 10 unanswered points was the highlight of a superb display as the Knicks improved to 5-6.
It was the eighth game of Porzingis’s career featuring a haul of 25 points or more and he finished with figures of 13 of 22 from the floor, also a career high.
The Knicks’ heavy-hitters also weighed in with Carmelo Anthony scoring 22 points, Derrick Rose adding 16 and Joakim Noah snaffling 15 rebounds.
Rose was left in awe of the youthful Porzingis’s performance.
“He is dangerous,” Rose said. “For a second-year player that doesn’t really know the game like that, for him to come out and play the way he plays is incredible. And for him to be 7-foot-3 and move the way that he moves is kind of crazy. A unique, unique player.”
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope top-scored for Detroit with 21 points, but was left ruing a missed three-pointer which could have tied the game just before the buzzer.
Tobias Harris with 19 points and Jon Leuer (17) were the other main scorers for the Pistons, who paid the price for their inability to stymie Porzingis.
Harris admitted Porzingis had been practically impossible to contain.
“He got it going,” Harris said. “He got baskets from pretty much everywhere.”
Porzingis meanwhile soaked up the plaudits with modesty, attributing his display to the work of his team-mates.
“Shots were falling. I was playing my game. My teammates were finding me. I was in good position, and my shot felt good,” he said.
The defeat was another frustrating loss for Detroit, who are unbeaten at home (5-0) but hapless on the road (1-6).
Porzingis’s second quarter points blitz gave the Knicks a lead they never relinquished after they had trailed at 33-29.
Porzingis passed 30 points with 10:08 left in the fourth, draining a spinning nine-foot fadeaway from the left side.
Porzingis also sank a three-pointer to put the Knicks 100-89 up with 4:33 left in the game.
The Pistons rallied to 104-102 with 33 seconds remaining after an Ish Smith three-pointer. But the game ended when Caldwell-Pope missed his own three-point attempt on the buzzer.
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