While the Jrue Holiday trade may have been the splashier, more dramatic move, it was Kristaps Porziņģis who looked like the Celtics’ most important offseason acquisition Wednesday.
The Celtics held on against a gritty Knicks team for a 108–104 season-opening win. Porziņģis shined, finishing with 30 points, eight rebounds and four blocks, the most points ever in a player’s Celtics debut. Going against the team that drafted him—and hearing it from the fans—Porziņģis was a problem early and late, coming out of the gate with 15 points in the first quarter, then hitting a huge three to give Boston a cushion in the final two minutes.
KRISTAPS PORZINGIS WITH A HUGE THREE
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) October 26, 2023
Stream: https://t.co/QynkWWBPgj pic.twitter.com/S1gbCfBcve
It’s going to be really hard to defend the Celtics when Porziņģis is on the floor. His height and three-point shooting prowess paid quick dividends against New York. KP hit five of his nine threes Wednesday, and almost all of them came off very basic actions. Two came from simply spacing the floor off a driver, four came off pick-and-pops, and two were the result of doubles on Jayson Tatum in the post. (One was a bailout late in the shot clock, which Porziņģis banked in.)
This is the beauty of the Celtics’ five-out attack. They have players who can put pressure on the rim in one-on-one matchups, which means most teams without über-athletic centers will be forced to drop on ballhandlers, freeing up Porziņģis on the perimeter. And everyone else on the floor is a shooter, so the help can’t come as early or be as aggressive. Seriously, what are defenses supposed to do when Tatum has the ball on the block, nobody else is inside the arc and Porziņģis is only one pass away?
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On perhaps the game’s most important play, Porziņģis set a screen for Tatum at the top of the key, and the Knicks decided to send a double at Tatum. KP quickly relocated to the right wing for a catch-and-shoot. Julius Randle had to leave Jaylen Brown (career 36.5% three-point shooter) open in the corner to close out on Porziņģis, who shot over the closeout with ease, anyway. Even if he missed, Boston was in a good position to grab an offensive board because the Knicks were in scramble mode. Instead, KP broke a 101–101 tie to give the Celts a three-point lead with under 90 seconds to go.
We haven’t even gotten to the defense yet. Porziņģis had four blocks—two as a help defender on drives, one after a Knicks offensive rebound, and another slick one as the lone man back in transition. As a team, New York shot an ice-cold 32.4% within the restricted area Wednesday and an arctic 1-of-9 from the nonrestricted area part of the paint. The Knicks didn’t look comfortable whenever they got close to the hoop, in large part because of Porziņģis.
KRISTAPS PORZINGIS BLOCK. 🔥🔥
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) October 26, 2023
pic.twitter.com/pDZbbpp1gA
Overall, the Celts’ new starting lineup of Holiday, Brown, Tatum, Porziņģis and Derrick White was a plus-nine in 19 minutes with a 24.6 net rating. That group dominated, and the unit with Al Horford in place of White also played well. Boston’s depth may still leave a little to be desired—its top two lineups were a plus-10 in 26 minutes, its next three were a minus-18 in 10 minutes—but that’s incredibly nitpicky. Night 1 of the Porziņģis experiment was an unqualified success.
