BOSTON — Kristaps Porzingis is just 15 games into his Celtics tenure, so he has yet to experience the TD Garden crowd for a playoff-like atmosphere. But with the C’s hosting the Bucks on Wednesday in a showdown between the East powers, there was some extra buzz to the crowd.
Porzingis said he noticed that juice as the Garden faithful was more than happy to cheer on their Celtics to a 119-116 win over the Bucks.
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“It definitely gives me extra like extra passion, it’s just natural for all of us players,” Porzingis said. “We want to play in front of big crowds, great energy. For me, it may be a little bit too much because I have to relax a little bit. I’m of course enjoying it and I can kind of compare it to my rookie year and my first few years in the league when I was playing for the Knicks.
“Playing there was also incredible and all the places I’ve been. It’s different in each place but, definitely, you know what stands out is, New York and here in Boston. It’s been a joy to play in front of these fans and get so much support.”
During the preseason, Porzingis said he was already impressed with Celtics fans bringing the energy. That was again the case Wednesday — especially when the Celtics went on big runs to build up their huge leads. While the Bucks forced their way back into the game to make it close, the C’s still came away with the victory.
The Celtics are now an NBA-best 12-3 after their victory Wednesday. Thus far, they’re a perfect 6-0 at home while 6-3 on the road. After a heavier road schedule, the Celtics have seven of their next eight scheduled games at home (though that doesn’t include any NBA in-season tourney games). That means plenty more opportunities for the C’s to stay home and play in front of their home crowd.
“Obviously, the fans and everybody in the building knew that this is the No. 1 and No. 2 seed playing against each other, and that just adds more fuel to the atmosphere,” Porzingis said. “And our friends here in this building are incredible. The energy was there. We played hard. They made a good push at the end and almost made a comeback.”
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