The New York Knicks are taking on Brazilian team Bauru Basket on Wednesday to open their NBA preseason schedule and the team is hosting the game at Madison Square Garden. The game starts at 7:30 PM ET and will have Carmelo Anthony in the starting lineup and Kristaps Porzingis is expected to play some heavy minutes in his MSG debut.
The Knicks are coming into the season with expectations of improvement and while they may not win a championship, the team thinks that they can win some more games than last year. The team set a franchise record low for wins and Anthony has said that he thinks this team can compete in the east this season. Anthony is coming back from knee surgery and he has looked strong in camp and now he will get the chance to truly test things out.
The Knicks made a number of moves this offseason and the roster is very different compared to what it was last season. The Knicks signed Robin Lopez, Arron Afflalo and Derrick Williams to deals and also brought in Kevin Seraphin, Sasha Vujacic and Kyle O'Quinn, who came over in a trade. The team did not get any superstar free agents like LaMarcus Aldridge or Greg Monroe, but the team added some solid pros to the roster and that is an upgrade over last season.
The Knicks may have more moves to make down the line with someone like Jose Calderon, but right now the team is satisfied with the makeup of the roster. Porzingis and Jerian Grant both should see playing time as rookies and Langston Galloway had a promising season last year and will try and build on that as well. The team has a solid front line with Lopez coming in and he should be a major upgrade defensively over what the team had last season.
Derek Fisher said that Arron Afflalo will sit out the preseason game and he could continue to get some rest, as he has a hamstring injury and those can linger at times. The team needs Afflalo healthy and that could help get some younger players more minutes in the preseason. Fisher is thinking about starting the Zing man in this game and even if he doesn't, expect the rookie to get some major minutes. Fans have really turned around on Porzingis and everyone is optimistic that he can be a strong NBA player, even if takes a couple years to get him there.
The Knicks took Porzingis with the number four overall pick and he has high expectations coming into the season. The Knicks come into the season after ranking 30th in the league in points per game last season and they will be looking to improve that number.
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