It was a historic night for Kristaps Porzingis on Wednesday as he set a franchise record for most points scored in a Celtics debut. That performance came against a Knicks team that originally drafted him in 2015 and traded him away to the Mavericks in 2018 after the relationship soured.
New York fans at Madison Square Garden weren’t shy about sharing their feelings about the 7-foot-3Boston big man five years later as he returned with a division rival. A hot start by Porzingis potentially fanned those flames leading to some profane chants directed at the former Knick throughout the second half. Porzingis responded to those after the game while speaking about the atmosphere.
“That was awesome,” he said. “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 on making some big plays and some free throws. Overall, a fun game to play in for sure.”
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Porzingis even showed some understanding from the tough reception he got.
“I think it was the way that exit happened, he said. “I think it was that. Of course if you’re not with New York, you’re the enemy. And I understand that part completely. I miss this place and I wish nothing but the best for this organization.”
While Knicks fans may be internally having some regret about missing out on Porzingis in his prime, plenty of Celtics were appreciative of how he responded in his Boston debut.
“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,” 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 throughout the game.”
“He just makes us that much more dynamic obviously with his size, ability to shoot, make plays off the dribble,” Jayson Tatum added. “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 Celtics and Porzingis will look to build upon Wednesday’s momentum against the Heat on Friday night at TD Garden.
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