NEW YORK — Kristaps Porzingis all the time enjoys coming again to Madison Square Garden, even when the followers there aren’t welcoming to him. He was as soon as the Knicks’ promising younger star, drafted to be the face of their future earlier than he was all of a sudden traded in 2019. That makes him an enemy each time he returns.
Porzingis is aware of this. He embraces it. On Wednesday evening, it fueled him.
With 2:03 remaining in a decent season opener, Knicks followers bought mad at him. Porzingis, after corralling a rebound, was fouled and inadvertently hit Isaiah Hartenstein with an elbow, sending him to the ground. The Garden erupted. “(Expletive) Porzingis!” chants crammed the sector.
“I did not hear,” Porzingis mentioned with a wry smile afterward.
Of course, he did. It didn’t trouble him.
“For me it was fun,” Porzingis mentioned. “I was just enjoying all of that and using it as motivation to make some big plays at the end. It was actually really, really fun tonight to play and be in that environment.”
It was solely becoming that Porzingis was the one who willed the Celtics to their season-opening victory. Facing his former crew, within the area he referred to as his first NBA dwelling, Porzingis showcased so lots of the methods he might be the difference-maker that propels Boston to a championship this season.
With the additional spacing he offers, he killed the Knicks together with his taking pictures. He was a terror defensively, making followers neglect about Robert Williams, as an elite rim protector as he completed with 4 blocks and several other extra stops. In crunch time, he confirmed he could be the piece that the Celtics had been lacking in these late, tight moments as he scored 9 consecutive factors to shut the victory.
When Jayson Tatum confronted a double crew and located Porzingis open for the finally decisive 3-pointer with 1:29 to go, Tatum stretched out each of his arms in celebration. Porzingis took the load off his shoulders.
“He just makes us that much more dynamic obviously with his size, ability to shoot, make plays off the dribble,” Tatum mentioned. “When they double me late, make the right play, find an open man. Obviously he can shoot from wherever. I mean, he’s really good. He’s really, really good. We’re lucky to have him.”
The significance of coming via in crunch time wasn’t misplaced on Porzingis.
“It’s important, I think,” Porzingis mentioned. “It’s important to show what my mindset is in tight games like this and probably showing them that I’ll be there. I’ll be there and do what I can on both ends. I think today was a good step for us to build that trust.”
Defensively, the Celtics flashed their potential on Wednesday. Derrick White and Jrue Holiday created some havoc as they compelled some turnovers to get the Celtics in transition. Holiday helped shut down the larger Julius Randle, who went simply 5-for-22. The Celtics’ effort and togetherness on that finish confirmed in crunch time as they persistently restricted the Knicks to at least one shot and held them to only 5 factors over the ultimate 4 minutes.
Porzingis’ protection virtually stood out greater than his offense. He was the most important motive why the Knicks struggled to have success inside, as they have been held to 18-for-56 on two-point discipline objectives.
Porzingis gave credit score to the teaching employees for placing him in the best conditions and positions on protection, an space he appears energized to point out what he can do.
“KP is hungry and excited to be here,” Tatum mentioned. “And knows how important he is to this team and what we need him to bring each and every night. It’s a sense of pride that we, everybody has to have on defense, right? We got some All-NBA defensive guys on this team, some guys that are capable of making that team. And essentially, you don’t want to be like the slouch out there, right? And KP is definitely holding his own and everybody individually wants to hold their own defense so we can be better as a unit. And that’s just a pride thing and effort.”
Other takeaways and notes:
– Jaylen Brown struggled on Wednesday. He completed with 11 factors and made some dangerous choices all through the evening, together with a pricey sequence within the fourth when he dedicated two turnovers and a foul on a 3-pointer because the Knicks surged forward. But he earned some credit score for among the Celtics’ late-game execution
“It was just one game,” Tatum mentioned. “We know how special he is. Everybody’s going to have not great shooting nights but he still impacted the game in other ways. He got some key rebounds and loose balls at the end to give us some more possessions. I’m not going to shoot the ball great some nights, KP’s not, but it’s all about how you impact the game in other ways. So JB’s going to be fine. He’s probably going to have a great game on Friday.”
– While Holiday appeared nice – as normal – defensively, he’s clearly nonetheless attempting to get comfy with the offense as he continues to construct chemistry and study tendencies with some new teammates after being traded lower than a month in the past.
“I think he’s still learning,” C’s coach Joe Mazzulla mentioned. “Especially when you’re out there with four guys that can dribble-drive, you gotta just find your opportunities to play and find your opportunities to space and find your opportunities to screen. We just gotta simplify it for him.”
– An enormous, obligatory space of clean-up for the Celtics: They gave up 17 offensive rebounds to the Knicks, leading to 20 second-chance factors.
– Tatum has dealt together with his fair proportion of accidents over the previous couple of seasons, together with his wrist and the ankle damage that he suffered in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals final season. He mentioned earlier than the season opener that his physique feels good after a full summer time off, and he appeared recent within the win over the Knicks as he completed with 34 factors and 11 rebounds. He did commit 4 turnovers, although, together with one which was almost pricey within the remaining minute because the C’s have been attempting to carry on.
“I had too many turnovers,” Tatum mentioned. “It was the first game of the season, cut me some slack.”
– The Celtics reported zero accidents and are totally wholesome for Friday’s dwelling opener towards the Heat.
Source: www.bostonherald.com