GREENBURGH, N.Y. _ The Knicks lost their game and their best player Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden. So they were left to deal with the aftershocks on Wednesday.
Kristaps Porzingis suffered a torn left ACL in the 103-89 defeat against Milwaukee. The injury will require surgery. General manager Scott Perry gave no date for the operation and no timetable for his return during a news conference Wednesday at the MSG Training Center. Obviously, it will cost Porzingis the remainder of this season and possibly some of next season given the general recovery time for players who have suffered this injury in recent years.
But Perry isn't expecting a diminished Porzingis to emerge from the other side of rehab.
"We have tremendous confidence in our medical group here that he's going to make more than a full recovery," Perry said. "And so whenever that time is, when he's back on the court, we expect him to be back at full strength and better than ever. That was our message to him. And that's his message to us."
Porzingis was about to play in the All-Star Game for the first time later this month. The 7-3 forward/center was averaging 22.7 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.4 blocks, which led the NBA.
"Obviously, he was devastated that he has that injury," coach Jeff Hornacek said. "So are we. It's a tough thing to have happen. He's had such a great year."
Courtney Lee, though, spoke with Porzingis at the Garden after the MRI results came back and saw determination in the 22-year-old Latvian.
"He was down when he first got the news," Lee said, "but then he instantly switched to like, 'I've got to take on this new journey. I'm ready for it.' ...
"It's definitely a tough blow for us. KP was averaging like 23 or 24 points for us. He did a lot for us, rebounding, blocking shots, being that guy for us that opened up the floor for everybody else.
"So today's mood [at practice] was: What are we going to do without KP now? It's really sinking in. We ran some different sets. We worked on spacing and just playing. We had some different lineups out there."
Perry said there will now be "an opportunity for a lot of younger players to get out there and show what they can do." He also said he isn't contemplating a coaching move with the Knicks having lost four straight and sitting a season-worst nine games below .500 at 23-32.
"No, we're not looking to make any changes," Perry said. "We're evaluating through the entire season. Jeff and his group are working really hard with this basketball team, doing the very best they can. Obviously, it's adversity to them to deal with KP being out.
"But I think they'll be able to do a good job at keeping this team playing hard, playing together, and that's what we'll be looking at moving forward."
