Two Eastern Conference squads winning in their preseason openers will play this Friday as the New York Knicks head to the Verizon Center to face the Washington Wizards.
In their first preseason game, the Knicks defeated Brazilian team Bauru 100–81 at the Madison Square Garden Wednesday.
Leading the way for the Knickerbockers was franchise star Carmelo Anthony who saw his first taste of action since missing the second half of the 2014–15 season due to a knee injury that required surgery.
Ahead of the preseason, Anthony said he was ready to go and proved that in their game against Bauru leading all scorers for New York with 17 points, also having three rebounds, and one assist in 20 minutes of action.
Helping him offensively were offseason additions, power forwards Kyle O'Quinn and Kevin Seraphin, who both scored 14 points each and had combined 13 rebounds.
One of the players who was observed during the game was the fourth-overall pick of the 2015 draft, center Kristaps Porzingis.
Porzingis had a great showing during this year's summer league but was unable to do so Wednesday facing Bauru as he only had seven points, two rebounds, and one block.
The Knicks are hungry to prove themselves in the upcoming season after finishing last year with a franchise-worst 17–65 record.
Meanwhile, the Wizards also had a good start to their preseason dominating the Philadelphia 76ers.
Forward Otto Porter Jr. was the Wizards' leading scorer as he had 22 points, together with five rebounds and two assists.
Rising star Bradley Beal also had a great offensive performance scoring 19 points, also tallying two rebounds, and two assists.
Washington survived an early offensive burst from 76ers rookie and 2015 third-overall pick center Jahlil Okafor to later cruised to a 129–95 win.
The game between the Knicks and Wizards willl take place this Friday, October 9, at 7:00 p.m. EST. To watch via live stream, click here.
