Advertisement

Kristaps Porzingis now has Steph Curry range and a new career scoring high

New York Knicks forward Kristaps Porzingis showed off his range Monday night. (AP)
New York Knicks forward Kristaps Porzingis showed off his range Monday night. (AP)

New York Knicks forward Kristaps Porzingis drained a 3-pointer all the way from Latvia on Monday night — and no, it wasn’t a last-second heave.

With just under eight minutes left in the first quarter against the Denver Nuggets, Porzingis did his best Stephen Curry impression, calling for the ball with one foot in front of the Knicks’ half-court logo. He proceeded to pop — and swish — a casual 3-pointer from waaaay downtown.

It was just one of four three-pointers Porzingis nailed in the first half, en route to a career-high 38 points. The 7-foot-3 big man was 14-for-26 shooting from the field, 4-for-7 from 3-point range and was 6-for-6 from the free throw line in 34 minutes to go with seven rebounds, three blocks and two assists.

Behind Porzingis’ carer night, the Knicks (3-3) won their third straight game, a 116-110 victory over the Nuggets.

Before Monday night, Porzingis was 8-of-26 from 3-point range this season. In his third-year with the Knicks, Porzingis was shooting 34.5 percent from long distance, only averaging around one made 3-pointer per game.

Porzingis’ impressive range in the first quarter was also topped off with a smooth 29-footer right before that.

Oh, and he can dunk too:

This season, the 22-year-old became the first Knicks player to score 30 or more points in four of the team’s first five games of the season. Porzingis was averaging 27.6 points per game through five games before playing the Nuggets.

By halftime Monday night, he already had 22 points and was 4-of-5 from 3-point range. He wasn’t done yet.