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High-powered Rockets host Knicks on Saturday
By: Sam Chase - StatFox
Published: 11/22/2017  at  8:15:00 PM
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NEW YORK KNICKS (9-7)

at HOUSTON ROCKETS (13-4)

Tip-off: Saturday, 8:00 p.m. ET
Line: N/A, Total: N/A

A surprisingly solid Knicks team gets a tough challenge on the road in Houston on Saturday.

After the Knicks finally sent Carmelo Anthony packing in the offseason in exchange for a pretty underwhelming package, most believed that a New York team that was already outside the Eastern Conference playoff picture would fall even further without the player who had been the franchise building block since 2011. And while the season is young, that hasn't been the case: The Knicks are just north of .500 and appear to be a legitimate contender to make the postseason in the East. That's largely thanks to a huge third-year step from PF Kristaps Porzingis, who looks like a beast unleashed after the departure of Melo. He and the rest of the squad will get a real challenge on Saturday night, when they'll travel to Houston to play the Rockets for the second time in November. They fell 119-97 at home to Houston on November 1. Houston is now a different team with PG Chris Paul working his way back into the lineup, something that could either help or hurt a Rockets lineup that had been dominating opponents without the aging Hall-of-Famer.

Kristaps isn't going to finish the year as the NBA scoring champ, but the fact that he spent a number of days holding onto that distinction in the early going speaks to just how transformative his development has been. He had a four-game stretch from late October to early November in which he scored at least 37 points in three of the four games. Combined with his defense—he led the NBA in blocks per game headed into Tuesday night's matchups—he's become a monster on both ends of the floor. In a win over the Clippers on Monday night, Porzingis had 25 points, seven rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Gunner Tim Hardaway joined the team in the offseason on a free agent contract that was widely maligned as too hefty, but the shooting guard is the clear second option on an offense that has done pretty well. He had 28 and 26 points against Cleveland and Utah, respectively, last week. Both C Enes Kanter and PF Doug McDermott have looked like better players than they did under Russell Westbrook's shadow in Oklahoma City last season. McDermott was the team's second-leading scorer with 16 against the Clippers, while Kanter scored 12 and grabbed 16 boards. He also led the team in minutes played, something of a shock given how little playing time he received in OKC due to his lack of defensive abilities.

While Kristaps won't be scoring champ, Rockets SG James Harden is probably the odds-on favorite for the distinction at this point, as he led the league with 31.6 PPG after scoring 29 against Memphis on Saturday. (He also led the league with 9.9 assists per game.) More impressive was his outing two nights earlier, when he dropped 48 points on only 22 shots, and Houston scored 142 points against the Suns. He had 31 points and nine assists in the Rockets' visit to MSG earlier this month. The Phoenix game marked Paul's first action since playing hurt in the season opener, and he notched 11 points and 10 assists in only 21 minutes. He got 24 minutes against Memphis, scoring 17 and adding six dimes. Time will tell exactly how Paul fits into this ball-motion, Harden-heavy offense as he ramps up his playing time, but early signs show zero reason for concern. C Clint Capela is still only 23 in his fourth year in the league, and he's on pace for career highs in points, shooting percentage, rebounds and blocks. Watching him defend Porzingis and Kanter will make for fun viewing. SG Eric Gordon is second only to Harden in three-point attempts across the league, while PF Ryan Anderson is on the edges of the top 10 and SF Trevor Ariza is in the top 15. Underrated offseason additions PF Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and SF P.J. Tucker bring strong perimeter defense to this offense-focused squad.


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