It took no time at all for Kristaps Porzingis to make his presence felt with his new team.
Porzingis concluded with 30 points, 8 rebounds and 4 blocked shots — including scoring nine consecutive points to put Boston ahead for good late in the fourth quarter — to lead the Celtics to a 108-104 victory over the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
“That was awesome,” Porzingis said, with a very broad smile, when asked how it felt to take down his former team in his first game with his new one. “That was awesome, I’m not going to lie. Playing here at the Garden is always special as the home team, obviously, but also on the road here it’s really fun.
“At one point it got really crazy when the fans got into it and they made the comeback. But we stayed poised, we stayed calm and we were able to finish out the game.
“Overall, a fun game to play in, for sure.”
It was a dream start for Porzingis with the Celtics, as he not only delivered the team a win in his first time in the Green and White, but also set a new Boston franchise record for most points in a Celtics debut, surpassing Dominique Wilkins’ 25 in 1994.
He showed off his versatility, too.
He paced Boston in both 3s, hitting 5 of the 12 Celtics triples on the night, while also leading the team with a 9-for-10 showing from the free throw line. At the other end, he blocked four shots, while altering several more, which all added up to him being a game-high plus-13 in 38 minutes.
“He has an innate ability to put two on the ball, whether they’re trying to pop and veer, whether they’re trying to blitz him, and so when he gets the space, he’s a magnet,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. “So we just have to continue to get better at our spacing, get better at our 2-on-1 reads, and they’re going to look different than they did at times last year with him on the floor. But, because of him, we can get to some more post ups like we did down the stretch and really change the spacing of the game.”
The Celtics needed every bit of Porzingis’ excellence Wednesday, too, after falling into a 99-93 hole with 4:10 seconds left thanks to a horrific 35 seconds from Jaylen Brown, who made two bad passes — one in the halfcourt that was straight at Knicks guard Jalen Brunson, and another to no one on the ensuing inbounds pass after a Julius Randle 3-pointer — before fouling Quentin Grimes on a made triple.
That turned what had been a tie game into a six-point deficit, sending the Garden crowd into a frenzy and leaving the Knicks, seemingly, poised to win versus Boston on national television here for a second time in three seasons.
Instead, Boston was able to go on a 13-3 run to flip the game around, thanks to Porzingis, who hit six three throws sandwiched around a massive 3-pointer on the right wing that put the Celtics ahead for good with 89 seconds to go.
It was also the Celtics debut for Jrue Holiday, whom Boston acquired on the eve of training camp just days after Holiday had been shipped to the Portland Trail Blazers in a blockbuster deal for Damian Lillard. And while it was a quiet night offensively for Holiday — he concluded with nine points, four rebounds, two assists and three blocks in 34 minutes — he was part of a ferocious Boston defensive effort that held Knicks stars Randle and Brunson to a combined 11-for-43 shooting, including 5-for-27 on 2-point shots.
