A very rough season for the New York Knicks just got worse as star forward Kristaps Porzingis tore his ACL Tuesday night.
Something has clearly angered the gods of the National Basketball Association as yet another major injury occurred Tuesday night. The Milwaukee Bucks were in New York to take on the Knicks when star Kristaps Porzingis went up for a dunk against Bucks star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo.
When he came down, it became clear very quickly that something had gone wrong.
Unfortunately for Knicks and basketball fans in general, the worst case scenario has happened for Porzingis, as reported by Ian Begley.
An MRI confirmed that Kristaps Porzingis tore the ACL in his left knee, the Knicks say.
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) February 7, 2018
Even though the Knicks aren’t in a playoff position, there is never a good time to see an injury like this. Porzingis is one of the brightest young stars in the NBA and the game is just not quite as good without him. It also comes on the heels of the New Orleans Pelicans losing center DeMarcus Cousins to a torn Achilles tendon and Washington Wizards guard John Wall needing knee surgery. It’s odd to see injuries to multiple big name players in such a short cluster.
As for the Knicks the rest of this season, they were already clearly sellers in the trade market. This injury will likely effect how they think about next season as well. Even if Porzingis makes a full recovery, New York is going to be incredibly cautious with their franchise player. It will be a while before he returns to full tilt action. New York can continue to rebuild around him, but it wouldn’t be surprising to not see Porzingis playing his usual minutes for at least a calendar year.
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It’s a sad night in New York and even for casual NBA fans. Hopefully, Porzingis is back on his feet in no time and the injury bug takes a break for a while.