New York Knicks: 3 reasons for optimism after loss to the Thunder

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It appeared, at times, that Porzingis was the only player making an effort against the Thunder. But KP is the only sure thing on this team and he showed it against OKC. The numbers put up by the rest of the team were obviously awful. However, the Knicks won’t face that level of talent very often this season.

How do horrible performances by Tim Hardaway Jr, Frank Ntilikina and Ramon Sessions equal optimism? Simply put, the performance by Porzingis supporting cast can’t get much worse. Hardaway Jr received a massive contract (compared to his actual worth) and it’s on him to help out KP.

At some point, players like Hardaway Jr and Kanter will have the breakout performances expected of them. If Porzingis then plays anything close to how he did against OKC, the Knicks have a formula for winning basketball. Furthermore, Michael Beasley injured his ankle early on and took away any thoughts of wing scoring the Knicks may have had.

Players not named Kristaps Porzingis might as well have stayed home in New York last night. The scoring numbers for KP’s teammates are almost too bad to be true. Eight points by Hardaway Jr, four points by Doug McDermott and three points by Ramon Sessions are a sad indication of how the night went. Plus, Willy Hernangomez barely broke a sweat with just 3 minutes of playing time.

Luckily, the Knicks are in the Eastern Conference and will have plenty chances to find their way against other weak teams. There were only two players with double-digit scoring against the Thunder (Porzingis and Enes Kanter). Consequently, there is much room for optimism as the rest of the team finds their way throughout the season.