Kristaps Porzingis Goes Off For A Career-High 41 Points
It’s a bird!
It’s a plane!
Actually, no. It was neither of those. It was the Unicorn himself, Kristaps Porzingis. The 7’3 center has been proving himself time and time again for the Wizards.
Against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Porzingis had a career night with 41 points surpassing his previous game scoring high of 40 points when he was with the New York Knicks.
KP was in vintage form and if you were paying attention, you saw this coming when the onslaught started in the first half. Porzingis was responsible for the Wizards first nine points, going 3-3 on three-point attempts and ending the half with 29 points.
In 30 minutes, Porzingis scored 41 points and was 100% (11/11) from the free throw line. He went toe-to-toe with one of the league’s best defenders, Rudy Gobert and the rest of the Wizards team followed suit in their intensity.
“It was a good night. We need to see hopefully more of it," Coach Wes Unseld Jr. said. "I think he was feeling the slump a little bit. Not shooting the ball well. Still doing a lot of good things for us so to see him having a night like tonight was good. I think anytime he’s making shots early in the game, It really helps loosen things up for us.”
Although Porzingis was in a good rhythm, he thought there was a possibility that he might not surpass his previous career-high since the Wizards were leading the Timberwolves by double-digits.
“I would say after the first half, I was like 29, I think that’s the most I’ve made. So I said, I have to try to go for it. I thought I might not get it because we were going to blow them out by like 30 and maybe I wouldn’t play the fourth," Porzingis said. "But the game was somehow close. So yeah, I had a career-high. I’m very happy.”
One thing that has been on Porzingis’ side so far this season is health. He has been sidelined throughout his career with injuries. While he had a minor injury at the top of this season, so far Porzingis has been in the clear.
This has allowed him to be consistently available to help take pressure off Beal which is a major reason the Wizards signed him. In fact, Porzingis’ 41 points are the most scored by a Wizard since Bradley Beal dropped 50 points on May 8, 2021 at Indiana.
Up to this point, Porzingis has proven to be a valuable addition to the roster. The season is still young and if the “unicorn” continues to go off, this may be his year of redemption.
