Kristaps Porzingis struggled from the floor for much of his Madison Square Garden return, shooting 6-for-17 from the field and 1-for-7 from downtown, finishing with 14 points in 34 minutes.
But unlike his first return to New York last season, Porzingis walked out with a win thanks in large part to Luka Doncic's electric fourth quarter, as the star point guard finished with 26 points to hand the Knicks their third straight loss, their second in a row in which they blew a double-digit lead.
As for Porzingis, the boos rained down nearly every time he touched the ball, with the Garden crowd loving his shooting struggles, especially early in the game when he began the night 0-for-7 from the floor.
"The reaction was what I expected, of course," Porzingis said after the game. "They are a tough team and they played really good defense on me and on us, in general. Just overall a tough game, a grinding game, and it's good to come up with a win against a tough team like the Knicks."
Porzingis was still a +16 on the night, and another former Knick in Tim Hardaway Jr. was a +12 while shooting 5-for-9 off the bench. Porzingis was the only former Knick the Garden crowd was concerned with, raining down chants of "KP sucks" in the first half, as the Knicks built a lead while Porzingis struggled. From the home bench, Derrick Rose watched Porzingis catch boos and jeers throughout the night, even after the final buzzer.
"To be honest, yeah [it is weird]," Rose said. "But when you think about the situation, it wasn't an easy situation for both sides, with him wanting to leave and them, the fans, feeling like they put their all into him by supporting him. I get it. I was in a similar situation when I left Chicago. People felt like it was me. Not to talk too much about it, but yeah, I get both sides."
Knicks fans clearly still hold disdain for the former Knick All-Star, who requested a trade after the team drafted him fourth overall. The trade looks much more favorable for the Knicks now than at the time of the deal, with Porzingis still battling frequent injuries and New York beginning to build a young core of talent with multiple draft picks, including this year's first rounder from Dallas, still in its arsenal. But even in a tough shooting night, Porzingis had the last laugh on Friday.
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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