Emmanuel Mudiay is doing his best to show the New York Knicks that their point guard of the future is already on the roster.
Mudiay has been instrumental in the team's last two victories. He scored 15 of his season-high 27 points in the fourth quarter against New Orleans on Friday, then converted a pivotal transition dunk and free throw in a 103-98 road victory over Memphis on Sunday.
Mudiay will try to keep the hot hand going when the Knicks play at Detroit on Tuesday night. New York (7-14) has won three straight after a 4-14 start.
"It was ferocious, it was the stamp on it," coach David Fizdale said of Mudiay's dunk. "The exclamation point. He wanted to bring it home so bad. It was a big-time basketball play."
Mudiay is averaging 16 points over the last six games while shooting 53 percent from the field.
The Knicks acquired the seventh overall pick in the 2015 draft from Denver in a three-team deal just before last season's trade deadline.
Fizdale, the team's first-year coach, believes the 22-year-old's improvement is more emotional than physical.
"He has my total confidence," Fizdale told the New York Post and other media outlets. "A big part of his deal, can I rebuild that? It wasn't a lot of stuff we had to tinker with in his game - maybe his (perimeter) shot a little bit but it was his spirit. I'm proud of the way he's leading the first group." >> READ MORE
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