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Kristaps Porzingis is getting set to face the Knicks for the first time since he was traded.
He was dealt to the Mavericks on January 31 after meetings with team officials during a season in which he hadn’t played yet due to injury. He’s back healthy this year, and he should be fired up to face his former team.
Boomer Esiason spoke on “Boomer & Gio” about his fears that Porzingis could have a monster game against the Knicks Friday night.
“Tonight we’ll see Porzingis,” said Esiason. “According to all the reports out of Dallas, Porzingis has not gotten off the schneid so to speak. He hasn’t played as well as they were hoping. You know tonight is going to be a 30-point night and it’s going to be one of those daggers for the Knicks.”
A big night for the Mavericks and Porzingis wouldn’t be too surprising. The Knicks have struggled heavily this season as they’ve lost four games in a row and have dropped to 1-7.
They’ll also be without Mitchell Robinson, their main big man, as he is dealing with a concussion sustained in the loss to Detroit.
Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images “I wonder when Scott Perry and Steve Mills, but also Jim Dolan, take a look at this. If this continues to go south the way it is, you have an 82-game season, and this season is fast going by the wayside. It is off the rails for sure right now, and that’s why the coach is embattled. I just wonder how long they’re going to let this go on the way it is.”
Gregg Giannotti pushed back on the notion that the team might fire Fizdale so early. Gio pointed out that firing a coach puts the Knicks back to square one, as it leaves them with an interim coach for the rest of the 2019 season.
“I don’t know if there’s anything to gain from canning David Fizdale this early. If you believe that RJ Barrett and Kevin Knox and those guys aren’t developing properly under the tutelage of David Fizdale, I guess that would be the one reason to move on. This early right now, you start to think about it, but I don’t think it’s a realistic possibility. Plus, you go interim coach the rest of the way then you’ve got to start the process up at the end of the year.”
