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Rotations are always cut a bit shorter as teams get deeper in the NBA playoffs, but depth players have to stay ready in case their number is called.
For the Knicks, that was Ariel Hukporti in Game 1 on Monday night.
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Hukporti saw the floor just three times in New York’s first round meeting with the Hawks, but they were forced to turn to him early on this time around.
Karl-Anthony Towns ended up being okay after an early injury scare, but the big man was forced to the bench after picking up two early fouls against Joel Embiid.
Mitchell Robinson came on, but quickly picked up a foul of his own. Then, Philadelphia turned to the Hack-A-Mitch strategy to try to slow the Knicks down, so he was pulled as well.
Hukporti entered into his most meaningful minutes thus far these playoffs.
The youngster was ready for the big moment, though, giving New York the big man they needed and holding his own in the tough matchup with Embiid down low.
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He went into the half as a plus-10 across his three minutes of action.
Hukporti saw even more time with the game out of reach down the stretch, and he ended up finishing the blowout victory with five points, a game-high nine rebounds, and a plus-22.
“I gotta give Ariel credit,” head coach Mike Brown said. “We were in early foul trouble and Ariel came off the bench and he wasn’t expected to play, obviously, and he did a pretty solid job.
“You’re not going to stop a guy like Embiid or [Tyrese] Maxey, you just hopefully make them work without fouling them, and I thought Ariel did a really good job in that area.”
Hukporti will need to stay ready moving forward, as New York may have to turn to him again as they look to keep Embiid in check during this second round series.
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/ariel-hukporti-stepped-knicks-bigs-033513704.html
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Publish date : 2026-05-05 03:35:00
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