The Boston Celtics kicked off their 2023-24 campaign with a hard-fought 108-104 victory over the New York Knicks on Wednesday night, and while the road to victory was bumpy at times, at the end of the day, a win is a win. And without one of their two new stars in Kristaps Porzingis, the Celtics almost certainly would not have come out on top in this game.
As part of an explosive offseason in Boston, Porzingis was picked up from the Washington Wizards in a polarizing three-team trade that saw longtime fan favorite Marcus Smart get sent to the Memphis Grizzlies. Porzingis ceiling is far higher than that of Smart's and in his Celtics debut, the Latvian big man showed exactly what he's capable of for the Celtics.
There were some concerns over trading for Porzingis, as he's struggled with consistency throughout his career, and has often been injury-prone as well. And while it's only game, many of those concerns faded away for the Celtics, as Porzingis stepped up and ensured that the C's wouldn't begin their new season with a loss at the hands of the Knicks.
Kristaps Porzingis delivered in a big way for the Celtics right off the bat
Porzingis initially broke out with the Knicks to begin his career, but his injury woes and lack of consistency saw him get traded to the Dallas Mavericks midway through the 2018-19 season. It certainly must have been tough for the folks in New York to see Porzingis absolutely throttle them in his first game with the C's to help them pick up a victory.
Porzingis was lights out for Boston in this one (30 PTS, 8 REB, 4 BLK, 8-15 FGM, 5-9 3PM), playing a massive role in thwarting the Knicks on both sides of the ball. Porzingis had a team-high plus/minus rating of +13 in this one, as the Knicks had no answer to his shooting from the perimeter and strong interior defense.
On paper, the Celtics have the potential to be an offensive juggernaut, and they flashed their potential on Wednesday night. Porzingis used his newfound space created by his teammates to bury five threes, and then operated an unstoppable two-man game with Jayson Tatum down the stretch that typically resulted in easy buckets or trips to the free throw line, where Porzingis made nine of his ten shots.
Kristaps Porzingis did pretty much all of his damage in this game in the first and fourth quarters of this game, as he opened his Celtics account with a 15-point first quarter to help Boston race out to an early lead. It was late in the game, though, where Porzingis was at his best, and he showcased just how dominant he can be when operating within the Celtics new look offense.
Boston allowed New York to rally from a nine-point deficit early in the fourth, and it was Porzingis who kept this team afloat when the Knicks were on the verge of running away with the game. Porzingis buried a deep-three midway through the quarter to give the C's a one-point lead, but they would end up falling behind by six with less than four minutes left in the quarter.
Porzingis would go on to score nine of the Celtics final 11 points, as he drew a pair of fouls to get to the line to tie the game before knocking down the go-ahead three with 90 seconds left that gave Boston a 104-101 lead. He would bury another pair of massive free throws to extend the lead to four, before Payton Pritchard sealed the game with two more free throws.
Right off the bat, it's clear that Porzingis had a big night, but when you consider that Tatum was really the only other guy to show up on offense alongside him, it makes it even more impressive. Derrick White and Al Horford had decent nights on a low volume of shots, but Jaylen Brown had just 11 points on 11 shots, and Jrue Holiday's Celtics debut, in which he scored nine points on ten shots, didn't go as well as Porzingis' did.
Defensively, there were concerns about Boston's interior defense after they moved Robert Williams III to the Portland Trail Blazers as part of the trade for Holiday, but Porzingis was all over the place in this one. He racked up four blocks on the night, and was using his height to wreak havoc on New York's offense all night long. The Knicks made up for this by catching fire from behind the arc in the second half (they hit 43.9 percent of their threes), but when they attacked Porzingis in the paint, they weren't having much success.
Again, it's only one game, but the initial returns are wildly encouraging. If Porzingis can continue to hold down the fort in the paint on defense, while also spreading opposing defenses with his sharpshooting on offense, swinging the deal for the talented big man will be a massive win for Boston. Trading away Smart certainly hurt, but if Kristaps Porzingis keeps playing like this, the trade will end up being more than worth it for the Celtics.
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