New York Knicks guard RJ Barrett (9) shoots over Boston Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis during the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/John Munson)
NEW YORK (AP) — Kristaps Porzingis showed against his old team why his new one is an NBA Finals favorite.
Porzingis made a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 1:29 left and scored 30 points in a strong Celtics debut, Jayson Tatum had 34 points and 11 rebounds, and Boston beat the New York Knicks 108-104 on Wednesday night in the season opener for each team.
Porzingis finished with eight rebounds and four blocked shots against his original NBA club, showing why the Celtics should be in contention for another banner after acquiring the 7-foot-3 center and Jrue Holiday during the offseason.
Porzingis set a record for the highest-scoring Celtics debut.
“Honestly, it’s an awesome feeling to come back now being a Celtic and play here,” he said. “Even getting booed and getting all that, it’s still cool, I really like that and enjoyed that. But most importantly we won the game and very excited about what we have ahead of us.”
Holiday had a key basket after the Knicks opened a six-point lead with 3:40 left before Porzingis scored Boston’s next nine points, including the 3-pointer that snapped a 101-all tie.
Holiday scored nine points. Derrick White had 12 for the Celtics, and Jaylen Brown had 11 points, six rebounds and five assists.
RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley each scored 24 points for the Knicks, who started slowly but opened the fourth quarter with a 13-2 run to take their first lead of the game. They couldn’t hold on against one of the NBA’s best teams.
“I thought the start of the game hurt us and then I thought the second, third and fourth we played better,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said.
“It’s still choppy, we’re working through things, but we have to be ready and alert.”
Porzingis was the No. 4 pick by the Knicks in 2015 and was an…
Read the full article here
