NEW YORK — Without Kristaps Porzingis, there’s no reason for the New York Knicks to be thinking about the postseason.

It’s time to look to their future.

That’s all that’s left after Porzingis was lost to a torn ACL, ending his All-Star season and probably any hopes the Knicks had of making the playoffs.

They say they’ll keep playing hard, but the first trade they made after Porzingis’ injury showed they aren’t loading up for a playoff push.

“Look, we want to compete every night,” General Manager Scott Perry said Wednesday. “We want to continue to fight.”

Porzingis had hoped they would fight all the way to the playoffs for the first time in his career. But those plans were derailed when Porzingis crashed to the court, punching the floor in pain after a dunk in the second quarter of a loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night.

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An MRI revealed a torn left ACL, an injury that will sideline Porzingis for the rest of this season and perhaps a good deal of the next.

“Obviously he was devastated that he has that injury and so are we,” Coach Jeff Hornacek said. “It’s a tough thing to have happened. He’s had such a great year and we’re trying to grow with him.”

New York was already facing a tough climb from 11th place in the Eastern Conference, and that would have been difficult even with Porzingis carrying them.

The Knicks probably would have needed to find some help by Thursday’s trade deadline, and perhaps they would have tried given Porzingis’ stated desire for a playoff push. But now they are better off playing for the lottery than the playoffs, and any moves they make would likely be with that in mind.

That appeared to be the case when they sent Willy Hernangomez, voted to the All-Rookie first team last season, to Charlotte. The Knicks got back a pair of second-round picks along with forward Johnny O’Bryant, who Perry said would be waived.

“We were without second-round picks,” Perry said, “and we value first-round picks and second-round picks, but we were without picks in 2020 and 2021. So this deal allowed us to do that.”

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For now, the Knicks will likely give more time to rookie guard Frank Ntilikina, and Perry and Hornacek said players from the team’s G League affiliate could get opportunities.

NETS: Quincy Acy sat out at Detroit because of a sprained right middle finger.

The Nets also were without Caris LeVert, who was evaluated for a possible concussion after being knocked out of Tuesday night’s game against Houston by a pick by Nene.

CLIPPERS: Los Angeles signed Lou Williams to a multiyear contract extension, rewarding the NBA’s best scorer off the bench with the long-term security he sought.

The deal was completed a day before the NBA’s trade deadline, and Williams would have interested contending teams because of his scoring ability and affordable salary.

WEDNESDAY’S GAME

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PISTONS 115, NETS 106: Andre Drummond had 17 points and 27 rebounds, and host Detroit extended its winning streak to five.

Blake Griffin scored 11 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter for the Pistons, who have not lost since acquiring him in a trade last week. Griffin will face his old team Friday night when the Los Angeles Clippers are in town.

Allen Crabbe had 19 of his 34 points in the fourth quarter for the Nets. They have lost four in a row and 8 of 9.

Drummond had 12 rebounds in the first half and added 11 more in the third quarter. He finished with a season high, two shy of his career best.


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