Kristaps Porzingis fought the Phoenix Suns' Marquese Chriss and Eric Bledsoe in the New York Knicks' 113-111 overtime loss. The Knicks had to play the game without the services of Derrick Rose who left the game in the first quarter after back spasms hit him again.
Porzingis got involved in a scuffle with Chriss after Chriss shoved him to the floor in the third quarter. Chriss was blocked by Porzingis on the previous play and as Porzingis was running the floor, he accidentally tripped Bledsoe. Chriss didn't like it and shoved Porzingis to the floor. Porzingis got back up quickly and shoved him back. Chriss was called for a Flagrant 1 while Porzingis was given a technical foul.
After that incident, Porzingis got fired up and went on a scoring spree. "It seemed to fire him up," Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek said. "He had a little more activity after that," he added.
"He needed that," Carmelo Anthony said of Porzingis. "People try to take advantage of his kindness and I thought it was a little bit too much out there for him. He reacted and we got his back out there," he added.
While Porzingis got into a fight not related to basketball with Chriss, he got into a basketball-related duel with Bledsoe. The two went back and forth and led their respective teams in the second half and in overtime. Porzingis led the Knicks' comeback and Bledsoe always seem to have an answer for everything the Knicks throws at them.
Postings finished with a game-high 34 points while Bledsoe had 31 points. Porzingis was backed up by Kyle O'Quinn's double-double (22 points and 14 rebounds) while Bledsoe was backed up by Tyson Chandler's own double-double (13 points and 23 rebounds).
Bledsoe took complete advantage of Rose' absence as the Knicks backup guards couldn't take advantage of their extra playing time. Bledsoe often got to the basket and slice through the Knicks defense without much difficulty.
Rose will be re-evaluated but will most likely miss more games. This is the second time he experienced back spasms and the last time he had it, he missed two games.
