Knicks star Porzingis hopeful ankle injury 'isn't serious'

Kristaps Porzingis is hopeful his ankle injury is not serious after he had to be helped from the floor in the New York Knicks win over Miami Heat on Wednesday.

The giant Latvia center was hurt in the first quarter at Madison Square Garden after his foot was stepped on by Heat forward Justise Winslow.

Porzingis' ankle twisted awkwardly and later went for an x-ray, as the Knicks completed a resounding 115-86 victory to move to 11-10 for the season.

The results of that scan reportedly came back negative and Porzingis is confident there is no major damage.

"Right now I'm walking around with no crutches, no boot, no nothing. I don't think it's that serious, but we'll see how I feel [Thursday]," he said in quotes reported by ESPN.

Head coach Jeff Hornacek was equally optimistic, adding: "It didn't look pretty, but he's a tough kid."

Team-mate Enes Kanter, who finished with 22 points and 14 rebounds, had a more amusing comment to allay fears over Porzingis.

"He's good," he said. "He's a strong unicorn."