It’s a Knicks fans worst nightmare — Kristaps Porzingis dunked hard and then fell to the ground grabbing his left knee.
The present and future of the New York Knicks is tied to Kristaps Porzingis. He is their best player and the heart and soul of the franchise. He is the one player they can not afford to have suffer a serious injury but that’s, unfortunately where they may be headed.
In the second quarter of tonight’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks, Porzingis slipped a high screen, losing Giannis Antetokounmpo and receiving a pass from Kyle O’Quinn. Porzingis rose up for the dunk just as Giannis arrived to get himself into the post. Porzingis landed awkwardly and then rolled to the floor holding his knee and writing in pain.
The video is not graphic but it certainly won’t be a fun watch for the Knicks faithful.
Porzingis didn’t appear to be putting much if any weight on his knee as he was taken to the locker room. In the words of ESPN’s Ian Begley, “didn’t look good.”
Kristaps Porzingis is being helped off the floor by teammates after injuring his left knee. He wasn’t putting much weight on it. Didn't look good.
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) February 7, 2018
This could be a heatbreaking twist for Porzingis and New York. The team currently has their best win percentage of the past four years. Porzingis was selected as an All-Star for the first time and is averaging 22.9 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.2 assists and a league-leading 2.4 blocks per game. It was a breakout season for someone who looked like he could legitimately become one of the best players in the entire league.
UPDATE:
Knicks star Kristaps Porzingis is undergoing an MRI on his left knee tonight, league source tells ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 7, 2018
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If Porzingis is hurt badly enough that he can’t play in the All-Star game he would, strangely, the fourth member of Team LeBron would need an injury replacement. DeMarcus Cousins suffered a season-ending Achilles’ injury. Kevin Love broke his hand. John Wall needed a clean-up knee surgery. Here’s hoping this was all much worse than it looked and Porzingis will be back on the court sooner rather than later.