The New York Knicks defeated the Philadelphia 76ers by a score of 99-84 to kick off the NBA preseason on Thursday, and the victory allowed plenty of their bench talent to impact the contest in a positive way.
While the Knicks received great contributions from their top-end stars to the seldom-used reserves, one player in particular impressed many after a successful six minutes of burn.
New York’s 23-year-old center Ariel Hukporti fully took advantage of the opportunity to make his presence felt against the 76ers, as both his counted stats and intangibles caught the attention of fans and media members alike.
“It’s a numbers game for minutes, but just as he showed flashes of as a rookie, Ariel Hukporti runs the floor really well and has offensive skills,” Newsday Sports’ Steve Popper shared via Twitter/X on Thursday.
Hukporti played sparingly for the Knicks throughout their incredible run to the 2025 Eastern Conference Finals last season, but he certainly got off to a great start heading into 2025-26.
The 7-foot leaper scored six points and pulled down six rebounds in his six minutes of action while showing off his wonderful motor and underrated play-making skills.
Above all, Hukporti’s end-to-end agility and stellar decision-making on the short roll was a welcome sight for the Knicks in the second half of their outing against Philadelphia.
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Following the conclusion of the game, the idea of Hukporti being promoted to full-time backup center status behind New York’s rebounding big man Mitchell Robinson became much more believable.
The former No. 58 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft could be well on his way to carving out a permanent spot in the Knicks’ rotation, and he’ll certainly be aiming to improve upon his counted stats of 1.9 points, 2.0 rebounds and 0.6 blocks through 25 appearances in the 2024-25 regular season.
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