New York Knicks vs Detroit Pistons
Game 11: November 16, 2016
Knicks 105, Pistons 102

Written by Eric Weinstein – @ericcweinsteinn
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Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Kristaps Porzingis show.

The Knicks took on the Detroit Pistons tonight for the second time this season, and evened up the series at 1-1. The story of tonight’s game was Kristaps Porzingis, who led the Knicks with a career high 35 points, along with 7 rebounds and 3 assists. Carmelo Anthony had 22 points, and Derrick Rose had 15 points, with a few clutch baskets in the fourth quarter. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope led the Pistons with 21 points, and missed a potential game tying three pointer at the end of regulation. Long Island native Tobias Harris finished with 19 points and 10 boards.

Takeaways from this game:

Kristaps Kristaps Kristaps:

I don’t want this to become a lovefest for Porzingis, but boy was he special tonight. Porzingis had his career high of 35 points, which is great in itself, but the array in which he scores is incredible. Whether it’s threes, post ups, fade-away jumpers, or that thunderous alley-oop, he had the garden crowd on their feet all night. He only took 22 shots to get to those 35 points, so the efficiency is there, and we are watching him become a star in front of our very eyes.

Props to KO and the bench:

His numbers won’t jump off the page, but Kyle O’Quinn had a really nice game tonight off the bench. He finished with 6 points, 5 boards, 2 assists, and 3 blocks, and this may have been the best defense we have seen him play. Besides, KO, the entire bench played great as well.

Brandon Jennings had 7 assists, Justin Holiday had 9 points and 5 assists, and even Maurice N’Dour had an extremely active 9 minutes.

Joakim Noah:

Joakim responded to the benching positively, as he came out of the gates hot. The Knicks ran pick and roll with Rose and Noah the first play of the game, and continued to use it throughout the game. 7 points and 15 boards for the 72 million dollar man in this one, and these are the type of nights that make him worth that cash.

Ball movement and offensive boards:

The Knicks outrebounded the Pistons 52-40, even with Andre Drummond on the other team. They totaled 19 offensive boards, which is the most I’ve ever seen the Knickerbockers grab in a game. Joakim Noah was a huge reason for that, his activity on the glass was a key to the Knicks jumping out to a first half lead.

Other Notes:

The way the Knicks played tonight, it just felt like there was no way they were going to lose, no matter how close Detroit came. Even though it came down to the final shot, I was never in doubt that New York would come away with the win. One thing to be worried about is the Knicks going to Washington tomorrow night to play the Wizards, and KP played a season high 40 minutes. Rose, Melo, and KP all played heavy minutes tonight, and hopefully won’t be too fatigued going into tomorrow’s game. Knicks and Wizards tomorrow night at 7. Great win tonight, 5-6.