NBA Opening Night Roster: Rookie Kristaps Porzingis To Start for New York Knicks
Rookie Kristaps Porzingis will start for the New York Knicks when they open their 2015-16 NBA season campaign against the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday.
Knicks head coach Derek Fisher told reporters that Porzingis will start alongside Carmelo Anthony, Robin Lopez, Jose Calderon and Arron Afflalo -- the same starting lineup that he is planning to use in their final preseason game against the Boston Celtics on Thursday.
Fisher believes that their starting frontline of Anthony, Lopez and Porzingis will force teams to adjust because of their combination of size and flexibility. The second-year coach also added that the same lineup will likely end most of their matches early in the season, barring injuries or unforeseen circumstances.
"The size, the strength, length up front, they can score. They're a veteran group other than Kris," Fisher said via New York Post. "That group is going to be more about execution, working together. I think the defense has to respect each of those guys for who they are and what they can do on the floor."
Porzingis was one of the highly-touted international players heading into the 2015 NBA Draft and was even linked to the Los Angeles Lakers, who owned the second overall pick, which they eventually used to acquire D'Angelo Russell. In turn, the 20-year-old Latvian was selected by the Knicks with their fourth overall pick.
Porzingis struggled early in training camp, as he dealt with a knee injury, but he insisted that he is now feeling fine with less than a week before the new season begins.
"I'm getting some work done in the weight room, just working on those things so I can avoid those little injuries," Porzingis told ESPN. "I'm totally fine, totally healthy."
In three preseason games, he posted 7.3 points and 5.3 rebounds in 19.7 minutes per game. However, Porzingis shot just 34.6 percent from the field, but Fisher said that he is not too concerned about the field goal percentage because their rookie did a lot of positive things during their preseason games.
"I saw aggression. I saw him going to the rim strong. I saw him rebounding. I saw him changing shots," Fisher said of Porzingis. "I don't think we question whether he can shoot the ball. Seeing him try to dunk on somebody, to me, that means he played a good game."
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