When Kristaps Porzingis came out of the locker room, minutes after the rest of his Mavericks teammates had already started the layup line before the game, the sparse crowd at Madison Square Garden had him targeted.
Loud boos rained down and chants were directed at him. And it didn’t let up as he was stripped the first time he touched the ball and then bricked a three-point field goal. He finished the first quarter 1-for-7 and was firmly in the sights of the fans.
But the Knicks have more immediate and pressing needs in regard to Porzingis, Dallas and the franchise-shifting trade and in the end, Porzingis and the Mavs got the last word.