SALT LAKE CITY — Luke Kornet will start at center for a second straight game when the Knicks face the Jazz on Saturday night, coach David Fizdale said.
In his first start of the season — and second of his career — Kornet shined Thursday in Milwaukee, tying his career high with 23 points and making a career-high seven 3-pointers on 11 attempts. Only four other 7-footers have ever sank seven 3-pointers in a game and Kristaps Porzingis’ high is six. His defense also pleased Fizdale, who has visions of making this a permanent move during this so-far 9-27 season of tryouts.
Kornet was a two-way G-League player last season as an undrafted rookie and had played 10 games with the Westchester Knicks earlier this year.
“I want to look at it for a little bit,’’ Fizdale said. “That’s part of the deal. He was the one guy that I hadn’t looked at in that lineup. I just felt like with that group why not look at it with some space. It looked pretty good.”
Kornet, 23, has a different skill-set than Enes Kanter, who is a low-post bull. Kornet’s 3-point shooting allows for the paint to be freer and he’s a surprisingly solid on-ball defender at 7-foot-1 with long arms. Kanter’s major flaw is his lack of rim protection and lateral quickness on defense.
“They’re different,’’ Fizdale said. “Luke is a big guy. That’s the one thing. Luke is all arms and legs. He’s not a big jumper, but he can challenge at the rim with a lot of size. Luke has a really good knack for whatever reason of how to kind of like navigate a defense. He knows how to talk people into position.’’
The shocking move was made Friday as the coaches determined the last time the Knicks won occurred at Charlotte, with Kornet as a big factor. Why not try Kornet in a bigger role? After the win at Charlotte, Fizdale praised Kornet, but cracked that the Vanderbilt big man “couldn’t jump over an envelope.’’ Fizdale added Kornet wouldn’t be pleased by the slight.
Kornet, whose basketball IQ has been cited by teammates as highest on the club, saw the jumping remark and didn’t sound too amused.
“I was actually thinking about how many envelopes I could jump and then putting them in his office,’’ Kornet said. “That’s one thing I could do.”
Kornet however, said he appreciated Fizdale’s praise for his defensive communication. Kornet also had five assists in Thursday’s loss to the Bucks.
“I’m more like a shooting big, I’m always back in transition,’’ Kornet said. “I feel like that’s a big part of it, talking to guys there, always being the back line, talking to guys, trying to put them in the right spots, get them in the right coverages, try to fix issues that come up.”
Tim Hardaway Jr. , who called in sick for Thursday’s game, staying back at the hotel, was back at practice Friday at the University of Utah and is listed as questionable. Fizdale said he may have had the flu or a cold.