Kristaps Porzingis came back for the New York Knicks on Thursday night, but he wasn’t the one getting serenaded with MVP chants at the Garden.
That was Michael Beasley, who scored 18 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter as the Knicks beat the Celtics, 102-93, on Thursday night. It was a triumphant game for Beasley, who according to ESPN’s Chris Forsberg was “swarmed” by teammates after the game to celebrate his triumph.
Beasley added 10 rebounds in a game where he played just 25 minutes off the bench, but he made those minutes count. Still, for a player mostly known for his words, the MVP chants were a bit foreign to him.
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“I’m just out here doing what I have to do,” Beasley told ESPN. “It is nice to hear but I’m pretty sure those chants were for KP.”
Beasley now has scored at least 23 points in three straight games, a tremendous run for a player who was famously derided for saying he could be one of four Knicks players to average 25 a game this season. Beasley stepped up for New York with Porzingis on the shelf for two games with a sore knee, and he also made a bit of history.
According to ESPN Stats & Information research, Beasley is the first player this season to have a 30-point, 10-rebound game off the bench and first Knick to do such since JR Smith in 2013.
The best part of all this, though, is an answer he gave reporters when asked when he started getting his scoring touch.
Michael Beasley on when he started feeling the hot hand: "January 9, 1989."
— Al Iannazzone (@Al_Iannazzone) December 22, 2017
Never change, Beas. Never change.
