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What's the story?
The New York Knicks defeated the Charlotte Hornets 118-113 on Tuesday night, and the Knicks' star forward Kristaps Porzingis set a team scoring record through the first ten games of the season. Porzingis says that the record will mean nothing if the Knicks cannot make the playoffs for the first time in five seasons this year.
In case you didn't know...
Porzingis is currently second in the league in scoring. He is averaging 30.0 PPG and only trails Giannis Antetokounmpo who is averaging 31.9 PPG on the season.
The heart of the matter...
Porzingis' 300 points through the first ten games passed Hall Of Fame center Patrick Ewing's 285 points for the Knicks in the 1989-90 season.
ESPN's Ian Begley reported on the story, and take a look at what Porginzis had to say in a recent interview in regards to the record:
"The sweetest thing for us, the best thing for us, will be to make the playoffs. This means nothing. If we can keep winning and I keep doing what I have to do, then the real reward will come."
After the 0-3 start to the season, the Knicks have won six of their last eight games and currently sit in sixth in the Eastern Conference.
What's next?
The New York Knicks (6-5) played a road game in Orlando without Porzingis but will now head back to face the Sacramento Kings (2-8) on Saturday night.
Author's take...
Obviously, the team record for scoring through the first ten games is only meaningful to the fans and the media, it is a pretty meaningless stat to a player, so Porzingis' response was perfect. The Knicks haven't played great basketball over the past few years, and if they miss playoffs again, that means more than a mark that we'll forget about in a week.
