In His Celtics Debut, Kristaps Porzingis Scores Thirty Points.
In the fourth quarter, Porzingis scored nine points in a row to put Boston ahead for good. On Wednesday night, the Celtics defeated the Knicks 108-104 at Madison Square Garden thanks to Porzingis’ final stats of 30 points, 8 recovers, and 4 blocked shots.
To be asked how it felt to defeat his old squad in his first game with his new one, Porzingis replied, “That was awesome,” with a big smile.
“I won’t lie, that was fantastic. As the team at home, obviously, playing here at the Gardens is always special, but it’s also a lot of joy to play here on the road.
“When the supporters got in it and made a comeback, it got pretty insane at one point. However, we maintained our composure and were able to win the game.
Porzingis had a fantastic start, breaking Dominique Wilkins’ 1994 mark of 25 points in his Celtics debut to set a new team record.
He also displayed his adaptability. Leading the club with a 9-for-10 performance from the line for free throws, he also led Boston in both 3-pointers, making five of the twelve Celtics. With four shots blocked and three more changed, he finished with a game-high plus-13 over 38 minutes played.
“He has an innate ability to put two of the ball, whether he’s attempting a pop and veer or whether they’ll be trying to blitz him, and when he gets the room, he’s a magnet,” Joe Mazzulla, the Celtics coach, said.
“They’re going to appear different compared to how they did at times last year when he was on the floor, so we just need to keep improving at our spacing and 2-on-1 reads. 3.
However, he has allowed us to complete more post-ups, like we did in the closing minutes, and significantly alter the game’s space.”
In the Boston Celtics’ game with the New York Knicks on Wednesday night, Kristaps Porzingis made a fantastic debut.
The Celtics defeated the Lakers 108-104 at Madison Square Garden thanks in large part to Porzingis. Following KP’s debut game as a Celtic, fans went crazy on social media.
With 30 points, eight rebounds, plus four blocks in his final game as a member of the Celtics, Porzingis made his debut.
He was 8 for 15 from the field, with 5 of his 9 shots coming from beyond the arc. In addition, he shot an almost flawless 9 out of 10 from the free throw line.
According to ESPN Stats, Kristaps Porzingis broke the franchise mark for the most points scored in a team debut on Wednesday when he scored thirty in the Boston Celtics’ season-opening victory over the Knicks.
Porzingis was excellent from end to end of the court. He scored from all over the court, and his rim protection was a major contributing factor even beyond the four blocked shots.
He went to the edge. He made nine of his ten trips to the free-throw line. With a minute and a half remaining in a tie game, he dropped five 3-pointers, included this one that looked like a bomb.
Al Horford offers strong defense as well, so a knockdown shooter and your popping big man is difficult to stop, but notice where Porzingis catches then releases the shot.
At the logo, he is. With a center like that, it is nearly hard to counter that; Boston’s spacing will be a huge advantage throughout the year long.
Kristaps Porzingis anchors Celtics defense
Porzingis dispelled any questions about taking Robert Williams III’s place as the cornerstone of the Celtics defense right away.
Similar to how Boston’s defense usually switches Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday, and Derrick White on the perimeter, head coach Joe Mazzulla had Porzingis lurking in the paint.
The 7-3 rim protector was able to flourish as the final line of defense because the Celtics tried to force everything into Porzingis.
He participated in the whole first quarter, and even though his lone contribution to the box score was a block, he had a significant influence on several of the Knicks’ misses and decisions inside the paint.
Porzingis had three blocks by halftime, and as The Sporting News’ Steph Noh noted, his presence made it so that New York shot just 33.3 percent at the rim.
Kristaps Porzingis gives Celtics different looks on offense
Additionally, the 27-year-old gave the Celtics’ offense an inside-out component that will undoubtedly relieve some of Tatum and Brown’s pressure to lead the team in scoring.
White’s backdoor lob, which we’ve seen him do a few times during the preseason whenever he finds opposing big men dozing off when he was spreading the floor on the perimeter, was his first basket in Kelly Green.
When he screens, he buried a few pick-and-pop threes to keep the opposition guessing. Additionally, he made some deep catch-and-shoot threes that will make life simpler for the Jays by removing rim guards from the paint.