The New York Knicks continued their NBA resurgence with a 100-88 win over the Milwaukee Bucks as Kristaps Porzingis continued his push for rookie of the year honours.
Lining up at forward, opposite fellow young guns Jabari Parker and Giannis Antetokounmpo Porzingis shone, especially on the defensive end.
The Latvian managed five blocked shots, 15 points and six rebounds, but the highlight was an audacious, twisting putback dunk off a Robin Lopez miss.
His 15 points paled in comparison to the 24 of veteran Anthony, who went close to a triple-double with 10 rebounds and eight assists of his own as the win lifted the Knicks to within two wins of a top eight spot in the Eastern Conference.
New York put space between themselves and the Bucks with an explosive third quarter that saw them skip to a 22 point lead at the final break, Porzingis and Anthony were at their best.
A not-quite surprised Anthony full of praise for the rookie and a one-handed slam that would not have been out of place during the All Star weekend dunk competition.
"Only somebody like him could make that play, make that dunk," Anthony said.
Milwaukee's Antetokounmpo, himself renowned for his own athleticism felt taking on a player as varied as Porzingis was a real challenge.
"He plays the game in a lot of ways," Antetokounmpo said. ]
"Offensively, he made a tough three. He blocked a lot of shots. Just makes it tough for us. Our game is to finish in the paint and he made it really tough for us tonight."
Earlier in the day the Los Angeles Clippers made it nine wins on the trot as they overcame an Anthony Davis-less New Orleans Pelicans 114-11 in overtime.
Chris Paul had 25 points with 11 assists to again lead the way and Jamal Crawford netted 21 off the bench while it was a Wesley Johnson free throw, combined with a missed Ryan Anderson jumper that got the Clippers home.
Their nine-game winning streak is the fourth-longest in franchise history and they have done much of it without All Star forward Blake Griffin, who continues to miss games with a partially torn left quadriceps.
Paul admitted despite the wins his side are missing Griffin and want him back in the fold as quickly as possible.
"We're happy that we're winning games, and we want to continue to try to keep winning and build up the team as much as possible. But this is not our team until 32 gets back," Paul said.
"When you lose somebody as important as Blake, everybody knew they had to step up.
"A lot of times we just throw it to him and watch him go to work, and now we're having to do a lot more. But our defence has come together, and we just keep trying to hold it down until he gets back."
Share
