Suns’ Marquese Chriss, Knicks’ Kristaps Porzingis tangle
Dec 13, 2016, 9:04 PM | Updated: Dec 14, 2016, 11:09 am
Things are getting testy between the Suns and Knicks.
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Suns rookie Marquese Chriss was in the middle of his best game as a pro.
He put together a 13-point, 11-rebound first half with relatively solid defense against second-year big man Kristaps Porzingis, but things started getting touchy between the two teams in the third quarter of an eventual 113-111 overtime win for Phoenix.
Porzingis was in transition when he bowled through Suns guard Eric Bledsoe, which for whatever reason prompted Chriss to throw down the 7-foot-3 big man. As one could expect, Porzingis wasn’t thrilled with Chriss placing him on the floor like he did to Andrew Bogut in the preseason.
After a scuffle between the teams, Chriss was assessed a technical and flagrant 1 foul, while Bledsoe, Porzingis and New York guard Brandon Jennings also earned technicals.
“I mean, it was just a chippy game. He’s a hell of a player,” Chriss told the media after the game. “He’s talented I think it just happens when two people are going at it and the intensity of the game is up like that.
“From the corner of my eye it looked like (Porzingis) threw (Bledsoe) to the ground.”
The scuffle ended a little more peacefully than another notable kerfuffle between the Knicks and the Suns back in 1993, when Kevin Johnson’s elbow-included screen set off Doc Rivers.
Porzingis only seemed to lock in after the play. He scored 34 points on 12-for-23 shooting. Chriss, meanwhile, recorded just one point and one rebound in the second half.
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