While Enes Kanter and Giannis Antetokounmpo stole the show in Thursday's Knicks-Bucks matchup, second-year forward Luke Kornet impressed by scoring 23 points in his first start of the season.

Kornet, who also appeared in 10 G League games this season, tied his career high in 34 minutes, making his second start in his career in a 112-96 loss at Fiserv Forum.

"I'm trying to make the most of what I have and establish myself and gain confidence and do what I can to show coach I can keep it,'' Kornet said, according to the New York Post's Marc Berman. "I'm hoping to help us win in this role.''

The 7-foot-1 Kornet made 8 of 17 field goals -- including 7 of 11 3-pointers -- and added five assists, three rebounds and one block. He started alongside Noah Vonleh while Kanter scored eight points off the bench.

"That's what I was hoping for, a guy that was going to space the floor for us,'' head coach David Fizdale said. "He opened up the floor for us to be able to attack the paint.''

Fizdale said his reasoning for inserting Kornet into the starting lineup was to see how well he played alongside rookie Kevin Knox, guard Emmanuel Mudiay and Vonleh, and believed Kornet executed the game plan well.

"I just thought going on the road, good time to look at a change and want to see how Mudiay, Kevin and even Noah operate in space,'' Fizdale said. "And I went back to our last win. That's what coaches do during a tough stretch. Luke was instrumental. Maybe we can duplicate it.''

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