Getty New York Knicks foroward Kristaps Porzingis
It’s been a rocky start to the 2018-19 NBA season for the New York Knicks and a road date with the Golden State Warriors doesn’t make the outlook any easier. The Knicks wrap up a six-game road trip against Stephen Curry and company on Tuesday and remain without their biggest star in Kristaps Porzingis.
New York sits with a 10-30 record and is in the midst of a brutal stretch in which they’ve lost nine of 10 games. The roster and starting lineup for the Knicks this season has been all over the map, as head coach David Fizdale has opted to switch things up from time-to-time. It’s stayed fairly consistent as of late, but the changes have led to up-and-down production for a few key players.
We’re going to take a look at the starting lineup for the Knicks against the Warriors, and also evaluate the latest on Porzingis and his injury.
Knicks Roster & Starting Lineup vs. Warriors
*Notates expected starter
C: Luke Kornet*, Enes Kanter
PF: Noah Vonleh*, Lance Thomas
SF: Kevin Knox*, Mario Hezonja, Courtney Lee
SG: Tim Hardaway Jr.*, Damyean Dotson, Allonzo Trier
PG: Emmanuel Mudiay*, Trey Burke
The Knicks are without a few players in this game, including rookie big man Mitchell Robinson and guard Frank Ntilikina. Both players will join Porzingis on the sidelines, and in turn, this opens up additional opportunity for Trey Burke as the backup point guard. Both Luke Kornet and Enes Kanter should see a decent number of minutes as well.
While Fizdale has opted to go with Kornet as the starter over Kanter, the minutes have fluctuated a decent amount. Kornet has seen anywhere from 14-34 minutes over the past six games, with 19 or more in five of them. With this game also being the tail end of a back-to-back and the final game on this road trip, there’s a chance Kanter’s minutes could be lower than normal.
Latest on Kristaps Porzingis Injury
Porizingis has truly started coming into his own as a top NBA player but had an unfortunate setback during the 2017-18 season when suffered a torn ACL. Since that point, the focus by the team has been on getting the 23-year-old back to 100 percent, but they’ve smartly avoided taking any risks.
With that said, we’ve seen a few times when some progress forward in Porzingis’ rehab has come to light, but nothing major pointing to an exact timeline for return yet. It’s actually been just the opposite to some extent, specifically when considering the recent comments from Knicks president Steve Mills.
Just prior to the New Year, ESPN’s Ian Begley quoted Mills stating that Porzingis was still “a ways away.” He proceeded to make it known that “one thing we’re not going to do is take any real risk” with their young star.
As of now, it’s a wait-and-see game with Porzingis as to when he could be back on the floor. There does seem to be a chance that he doesn’t suit up at all this year, and if that’s the case then he’ll become a restricted free agent after missing more than a full season of action.
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Knicks Roster & Lineup vs. Warriors; Kristaps Porzingis Injury Update