Kristaps Porzingis Underwent Successful Surgery on ACL Injury

The New York Knicks announced Tuesday that superstar Kristaps Porzingis underwent "successful surgery today to repair a torn ACL in his left knee, performed at the Hospital for Special Surgery."

Head coach Jeff Hornacek spoke about the 22-year-old forward's road to recovery, per Ian Begley of ESPN.com:

Porzingis was averaging 22.7 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per contest this season and was selected to the All-Star Game. Since his Feb. 6 injury, the Knicks have lost four in a row, part of a seven-game losing streak that has put any playoff aspirations on life support.

"He's of course really sad because he wanted to be out there so bad with us," Enes Kanter said Saturday, per Begley. "But I think at the same time he's staying really positive. Like, 'Man, I just want to get my surgery done early so I can just start getting my rehab and I can come back and play.' I think he's going to come back even stronger because he's really hungry."

Porzingis missed a total of 26 games in his first two seasons, though he suffered nothing as significant as his recent setback. Given the expected nine- to 12-month recovery for an ACL injury, Porzingis almost assuredly won't be back to start next season and may not return until 2019. 

The Knicks, in turn, are likely headed back to the lottery. The silver lining to any stretch-run struggles is the improved odds of landing another young talent in the draft to complement the young Latvian.