CHICAGO — The chance of rookie Kristaps Porzingis winding up outside a strip joint in Maspeth, Queens, in the wee hours of the night is probably as likely as him growing to 7-foot-8.
Actually, the 7-3 Porzingis, who scored nine points in the Knicks’ 108-81 loss to the Bulls on Friday night in facing idol Pau Gasol for the first time, jokingly referred to himself as being 7-8 at the Knicks’ shootaround at United Center.
If any Knick is a good bet to stay out of trouble, it is Porzingis, who often has said he comes to New York City only for the games.
Porzingis, who said he does not drink, is living in a cocoon in White Plains with his parents from Latvia and his two brothers. Lou Gehrig spent the first years of his Yankees’ career living with his parents, too.
“It’s always good to have support around, as young as I am and New York with a lot of attention,’’ Porzingis said before the Knicks met the Bulls on Friday. “My family’s around to make sure I’m doing the right thing and staying out of trouble and focused on basketball. For me, it’s great to have family around.’’
The Knicks are reeling from two ugly incidents in a space of 11 days that prompted general manager Steve Mills to lecture the players before they flew to Chicago on New Year’s Eve.
Knicks forward Derrick Williams allegedly got robbed of $750,000 worth of jewelry two weeks ago by two women he met at a club and took back to his apartment in the wee hours.
On Wednesday at about 4:15 a.m., Knicks forward Cleanthony Early was robbed and shot in the right knee after leaving a Queens strip joint and being held up by at least six bandits.
“It’s sad that things like that happen,’’ said Porzingis, the first Knick to tweet a sympathetic message to Early on Wednesday morning. “It shows how careful you have to be in those situations.’’
Although the drinking age in Latvia is 18, Porzingis says he does not drink at all. And as far as going out to a nightclub, Porzingis said, “I’m 20 years old.’’
Of course, that didn’t stop fellow rookie center Jahlil Okafor from getting into trouble. But Porzingis has followed a different path and has taken to heart the lessons of the August rookie orientation program held in Westchester.
“A lot of good information in the program,’’ Porzingis said. “The rookie transition program won’t save you from those situations, but it tells you how to react and [offers] a lot of good information for us to be careful and know what [could] be coming.
“They gave us information about guns, when you’re going out, how you should react if somebody’s trying to provoke you.”
He added the league also brings in guest speakers.
“A lot of interesting people to learn from their situations and they told us their stories,’’ he said.
Porzingis was in a joking mood on New Year’s Day, wondering if he will grow to 7-8.
“I’ve been growing always,’’ Porzingis said. “When I was 6-11, the doctors said you’re done, then I got to 7-2, 7-3. We’ll see.’’
Porzingis told The Post recently that doctor have told him he definitely has stopped growing.
As for the Knicks’ two recent off-court incidents, Mills, with the club here, declined comment.
Coach Derek Fisher indicated there was no set curfew for his players on New Year’s Eve and said he believes the distractions created by the Early incident won’t carry over. Early has been inactive for all but 10 games this season and now is out indefinitely.
“I’m not worried about our group,’’ Fisher said. “Everybody’s excited about playing the game. Guys are adults. We had some conversations just in general about the climate we’re in. Guys still made decisions the way they saw fit. Everybody’s here this morning — no issues.’’
Ironically, on a night rookie point guard Jerian Grant did not play for the fifth time this season and Porzingis struggled, Bulls rookie forward Bobby Portis continued to have a hot hand with 16 points — on 6-of-9 shooting — and 10 rebounds. Portis, a fan favorite, could have been a Knick, but they had Atlanta take Grant with the 19th pick in last summer’s draft to complete the Tim Hardaway Jr. trade.