There’s something special brewing in the New York Knicks’ frontcourt.
While Knicks fans and the NBA are clamoring over the play of Kristaps Porzingis, who has already shown that he can be a marquee man in New York through his first 15 games of the season, it seems as though he the young Latvian has found his sidekick among New York’s big men in Enes Kanter.
And everyone got to see it firsthand on Monday night just how good they can be against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Porzingis and Kanter dominated Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan, coming up with a plus-10 rebound differential while outscoring the Los Angeles duo 37-31 on the night. Porzingis provided a game-high 25 points while Kanter added 12 of his own.
The two have spent 342 minutes on the floor together this season in 15 of the first 16 games. Only five other Knicks pairings have spent more time on the court together.
Among those top-six pairings, Porzingis and Kanter have been two of the Knicks’ most efficient players:
Most minutes played together: Knicks pairings
Tim Hardaway Jr., Kristaps Porzingis: 419 minutes
Courtney Lee, Kristaps Porzingis: 369 minutes
Tim Hardaway Jr., Courtney Lee: 357 minutes
Enes Kanter, Courtney Lee: 353 minutes
Enes Kanter, Kristaps Porzingis: 342 minutes
Defensive rating
Enes Kanter, Courtney Lee: 110.4
Tim Hardaway Jr., Courtney Lee: 108.9
Tim Hardaway Jr., Enes Kanter: 108.9
Enes Kanter, Kristaps Porzingis: 107.2
Courtney Lee, Kristaps Porzingis: 106.4
Tim Hardaway Jr. Kristaps Porzingis: 104.2
Net rating
Tim Hardaway Jr. Kristaps Porzingis: 4.0
Courtney Lee, Kristaps Porzingis: 1.2
Enes Kanter, Kristaps Porzingis: 1.1
Tim Hardaway Jr., Courtney Lee: -2.0
Enes Kanter, Courtney Lee: -3.8
Tim Hardaway Jr., Enes Kanter: -4.5
Assist to turnover ratio
Tim Hardaway Jr. Kristaps Porzingis: 1.61
Enes Kanter, Kristaps Porzingis: 1.53
Courtney Lee, Kristaps Porzingis: 1.44
Tim Hardaway Jr., Courtney Lee: 1.44
Enes Kanter, Courtney Lee: 1.40
Tim Hardaway Jr., Enes Kanter: 1.34
Rebound percentage
Enes Kanter, Kristaps Porzingis: 52.9%
Tim Hardaway Jr., Enes Kanter: 52.5%
Tim Hardaway Jr. Kristaps Porzingis: 52.5%
Courtney Lee, Kristaps Porzingis: 52.4%
Enes Kanter, Courtney Lee: 51.7%
Tim Hardaway Jr., Courtney Lee: 51.3%
Offensive rating
Enes Kanter, Kristaps Porzingis: 108.3
Tim Hardaway Jr. Kristaps Porzingis: 108.2
Courtney Lee, Kristaps Porzingis: 107.6
Tim Hardaway Jr., Courtney Lee: 106.9
Enes Kanter, Courtney Lee: 106.6
Tim Hardaway Jr., Enes Kanter: 104.4
That solid offensive rating number has a lot to do with their skillset near the basket Both Kanter and Porzingis rank within the NBA’s top-six in points per post-up possession (minimum 25 possessions):
Points per post-up possession (minimum 25 possessions)
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (BKN): 1.16
Enes Kanter (NYK): 1.11
Karl-Anthony Towns (MIN): 1.10
Marcin Gortat (WAS): 1.09
Carmelo Anthony (OKC): 1.02
Kristaps Porzingis (NYK): 0.99
