On the night of the 2015 NBA draft, Kristaps Porzingis shrugged off the scorn that cascaded down from the fans in the stands at Barclays Center who felt ill at ease after the New York Knicks used the fourth overall pick on a thin giant from Latvia.

"I mean, a lot of fans weren't happy that they drafted me, but I have to do everything that's in my hands to turn those booing fans into clapping fans," he said.

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This week — after doing precisely that, becoming an early-season fan favorite with his poise and putbacks — Porzingis said that this is, y'know, what he was looking for when he decided to head to the States after spending the first four seasons of his pro career in Spain.

"I wanted to be in New York because I love pressure,” Porzingis told Yahoo Sports senior NBA writer Michael Lee. “I knew we could do big things here in the future. If you can succeed in New York, you can succeed anywhere.”

Porzingis' success reached new heights on Tuesday. Those cheers reached a new volume. And those boos? Well, nobody's heard one of them in a while.

Porzingis produced his best NBA game to date on Tuesday, scoring a career-high 29 points on 10-for-17 shooting in 31 minutes of work to propel the Knicks past the visiting Charlotte Hornets, 102-94, at a raucous Madison Square Garden. One week after coming a millisecond shy of beating the Hornets at their gym, Porzingis made sure to leave nothing to chance in his own. He poured in lefty floaters, elbow jumpers, baseline shake-and-bakes, tough finishes through contact, pull-up fadeaways and putbacks in traffic (albeit none of the dunking-on-someone's-back category).

He made both of his 3-point attempts, marking his first multi-triple game as a Knick, and all seven of his free throws. He pulled down 11 rebounds, notching his fifth double-double in 12 games. He worked on defense without fouling, picking up only two personals, which allowed him to stay on the floor and in rhythm. He earned loud chants of "POR-ZING-IS!" from the fans in attendance at MSG.

MSG chanting Porzingis' name pic.twitter.com/PuX8BnEiGH — charlie widdoes (@charliewiddoes) November 18, 2015

He was tremendous, and his effort — capped by a rebound of a missed 3-pointer by Hornets swingman Nicolas Batum and a pair of free throws that gave the Knicks a six-point lead with 11 seconds remaining — helped New York hold on after going stagnant for the final five minutes of the fourth quarter, as the efforts of Knick-killing point guard Kemba Walker (a season-high 31 points on 12-for-21 shooting) and the reserve backcourt of former Knick hero Jeremy Lin and Jeremy Lamb (a combined 25 points, 11 rebounds and six assists) cut what was once a 13-point lead down to within two buckets of disappearing.

It didn't, though, sending the Knicks to 6-6 on the young season. It took last year's Knicks 42 games to log their sixth win. This is better, and it's better thanks in large part to the 7-foot-3 20-year-old who just keeps proving that he belongs.

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“Everyone was saying I was a project. I am going to get better but I am ready to play right now.” -- @kporzee #Knicks — Jonah Ballow (@jonahballow) November 18, 2015

Perhaps the most exciting thing for Knicks fans, though: that after having his first huge game in a Knicks uniform, he sounds less eager to celebrate than he is to go get his second.

Kristaps Porzingis after scoring a career-high 29 points: "I can't be (thinking) that I've made it. It was just one game." — Ian Begley (@IanBegley) November 18, 2015

“The easy part is playing one game like that,” he said, according to Scott Cacciola of the New York Times. “The hard part is to keep playing at this level.”

That'll be tough, of course, if only because the level at which Porzingis produced on Tuesday has been so rare for a player of his age and experience level.

Porzingis is just the 21st player in the last 30 years to put up 29 and 11 before his 21st birthday, joining future MVPs (Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Shaquille O'Neal), future All-Stars (teammate Carmelo Anthony, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Chris Bosh, Elton Brand, Luol Deng, Dwight Howard, Brook Lopez, Rashard Lewis, Amar'e Stoudemire, Antoine Walker, Chris Webber), current rising stars (Bradley Beal, Anthony Davis, Andre Drummond, Nerlens Noel, Tobias Harris) and Lamar Odom (Lamar Odom). He is the youngest Knick ever to put up 25 and 10. He is the first Knicks rookie to put up at least 27 and 10 since Patrick Ewing, who got an up-close-and-personal look at Porzingis from the Hornets' bench, where he served as Steve Clifford's associate head coach.

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