Post Game - Celtics at Knicks - Wednesday, October 25 (W)

Celtics-Knicks takeaways: Tatum, Porzingis propel C's to Opening Night win

https://sports.yahoo.com/celtics-knicks-takeaways-tatum-porzingis-022948761.html

Justin Leger
Wed, Oct 25, 2023, 10:29 PM EDT·5 min read



Celtics-Knicks takeaways: Tatum, Porzingis propel C's to Opening Night win originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

For the first time in 13 years, the Boston Celtics earned an Opening Night victory on the road.

The C's entered Wednesday night's game vs. the New York Knicks with an 0-6 record in road regular-season openers since 2010. They finally put that unflattering streak to an end with a hard-fought 108-104 triumph at Madison Square Garden.

It was a nail-biter. New York erased Boston's 11-point lead in a span of a minute during the third quarter and took a six-point lead in the fourth. The Celtics eventually snapped out of their funk to finish the game on a 13-3 run and escape with the win.

Jayson Tatum (34 points) and Kristaps Porzingis (30 points) carried the C's offensively. RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley did their part to make things interesting for the Knicks, dropping 24 points apiece. New York nearly stole a victory with its red-hot 3-point shooting (18-for-41) but its struggles inside the arc were too much to overcome.

The Celtics will host the Miami Heat for the home opener at TD Garden on Friday night. First, here are our takeaways from Wednesday's game.

Jayson Tatum in MVP form

Tatum entered the season as a popular NBA MVP pick, and he showed why in this one.

The three-time All-NBA selection erupted for 19 points (8-14 FG) in the first half. He stepped up while the rest of the Celtics offense slowed down in the second quarter.





Tatum kept it rolling in the second half to keep the Celtics alive during their sluggish stretch. He notched a game-high 34 points on 13-of-22 shooting, including multiple highlight-worthy shots from long range. His presence was felt in every facet of the game as he added 11 rebounds, four assists, two steals, and a block.

Those numbers have become par for the course for Tatum. However, his consistency and ability to step up when his teammates couldn't hit shots were notable. If we see this version of Tatum on a regular basis throughout the 2023-24 campaign, he'll be in the MVP conversation come June.

Kristaps Porzingis shines against former team

Porzingis picked up where he left off in the preseason with a stellar regular-season debut for Boston.

The former Knicks big man took the court to loud boos from the Madison Square Garden crowd. He shook off the jeers and quickly quieted the fans with a 15-point first quarter.





"Honestly, I didn't feel that good in the beginning," he told ESPN's Lisa Salters after the first quarter. "My teammates found me some open shots. These guys draw so much attention. ... I'm just wide open."

Porzingis was a force on both ends of the floor. While lighting the Knicks up offensively, he also gave them fits with his impeccable interior defense. He finished with four blocks and was a team-best +13.

The MSG crowd graduated to "F--- Porzingis" chants with the game in the balance late in the fourth quarter. That's when Porzingis silenced them once and for all with a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:30 remaining.



All in all, it was a dream debut for the Celtics' prized offseason addition. He set a franchise record for points in a season opener with 30 (8-15 FG) to go with eight rebounds. He also became the first NBA player with five made 3-pointers (5-9 3-PT) and four blocks in a team debut, per ESPN.



Night to forget for Jaylen Brown

Brown has starred in his last three season openers, but Wednesday wasn't his night.

The two-time All-Star couldn't get much going offensively, shooting 4-for-11 from the floor (0-4 3-PT) to finish with a modest 11 points. He committed five personal fouls and turned the ball over twice.

Both of those turnovers were costly. The first was an errant pass that resulted in a Julius Randle 3-pointer in the fourth quarter. The second, an inbounds pass that was stolen, came shortly afterward.

Brown then fouled Knicks guard Quentin Grimes on a 3-point attempt, resulting in a four-point play. That sequence turned a tie game into a six-point Knicks lead in a matter of 30 seconds.

Suffice it to say, Brown has had better days. The good news is his errors didn't wind up costing his team a victory, and he'll have a chance to bounce back Friday against Miami in front of the home crowd.

Brown also had six rebounds and dished five assists.

Rough debut for the bench

Simply put, the Celtics need much more out of their second unit going forward.

Veteran big man Al Horford was the lone bright spot for the group as he hit three of his four shots (2-3 3-PT) for eight points. He also brought down seven boards in his 26 minutes.

Otherwise, Boston's bench was a complete non-factor. Payton Pritchard (four points) was the only other player in the group to put a tally in the scoring column. Pritchard, Sam Hauser, and Luke Kornet combined to shoot 1-for-9 from the field.

Depth was considered an issue for the C's heading into the season, so this game didn't do much to dispel those concerns.

Hi there folks, have been reading and watching here from the sidelines lately.

New NBA season, what a wonderful feeling! Finally finished watching the recording.

Looks like the Celts will take some time to figure out who defers when, where and to whom. Offense looked stagnant and tentative. JT and KP were great. JB stunk up the joint. Old man Horford showed his age in the rebounding and box out departments.

We still won the game. Knicks are no pushovers and tend to gum up the game.

Looking forward to the evolution of this Celtics team.

While it was great to win we  still seem to have some old DNA which I had hoped to jettison this season. Namely, we play with great intensity, both offensively and defensively for 1 quarter. Unfortunately the game consists of 4 quarters. It's only the first game so there is lots of time to address this. I hope they do.

Berlin-T

Sadly I wasn't able to watch the game last night.  I hoped I could but the internet in my AirBnB here in Santiago, Chile couldn't keep up.  I followed the Game On! thread for most of it, watched the boxscore, but didn't have any video.

We were tied at 66 and went on a 16-7 run to close out the 3rd up 9.  That should have done it.  Instead we started off the 4th with the Knicks going on a 13-2 run that put them up 2 with only 3:04 gone (RJ Barrett with 7 of those points).

Z with 9 of the last 17 Celtic points from 4:48 left in the 4th.  We all assumed that it would be the Js who would be the go to guys in crunch time but it was The Omega Man, Z, who kept going to the line and hitting 3s and pulled our bacon out of the fire.  8-15 from the field, 5-9 from 3, 8 boards and 4 blocks.  Now that's how how you debut!

Sean Grande @SeanGrandePBP
yesterday
5 3's, 4 blocks for Porzingins in his Celtic debut. He's the third Celtic to do it (Jaylen Brown, Jeff Green)


Souichi Terada @SouichiTerada
yesterday
Kristaps Porzingis: "That was awesome, not gonna lie. Playing here at the Garden is always special. ... We stayed poised. We stayed calm. We were able to finish out the game, making some big plays."








Joe had to play Tatum 39 minutes, Z 38 and Jaylen 38 because our bench sucked.  Hauser 0-4, Pritchard 1-4.  The bench, as a unit, went 4-13.  I'm going to withhold comment on Joe's overplaying the starters because, well, his alternatives looked bad.  I am a bit surprised that he didn't play Lamar since Jaylen was struggling on defense against Barrett.  Sam has to have a good game to keep his minutes, Svi is just lurking and hoping.

Tatum with 34 and 11.  13-22 from the field.  I'm just fine with him taking that many shots (his idol, and conscienceless gunner, Kobe Bryant would be proud of him) if he's going to shoot > 50%.




Jared Weiss @JaredWeissNBA
yesterday
Julius Randle can't get through Jrue Holiday. Lil dude defends like he's made out of lead.


Jared Weiss @JaredWeissNBA
yesterday
Jrue Holiday's offense hasn't come around yet, but it's impressive to see how he can take on one of the most physical scorers in the NBA in single coverage to allow the team to stay small and keep a center and Tatum near the rim.



They took 20 more fgas than us.  We are going to lose a lot more than we win if that doesn't straighten out.  Their fg% was 11 points below ours, 48.1% vs 37.1%, and it was close. On the other hand, they only shot 37% and our defense has to have had something to do with that.

They shot 14-26 from the line and we shot 22-26.  There's the game right there, that 8 point difference.  Their lousy frito shooting offshot their superior pace.  Randle 1-5 from the line.  He's a career 74.4% shooter from the line.  We got very lucky.

Al came off the bench.  Credit to him for that.  This is just the 11th game of his 1014 game career in which he didn't start.  It takes a big man to do that.  Big Al.  He was in for the finish and that's what counts.  It doesn't matter who starts, it matters who finishes, especially if you finish with a W.

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401584693


Bob


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Joe did a great job coaching, winning the game with us cold from 3 overall and bringing us back after some bumbling turnovers by us and Jaylen led to a Knicks lead. Last year we couldn’t win these kind of games. Last year saw way too much Tatum iso, leading to double teams and Smart desperation 3’s. Having Zinger definitely helps, now we need to develop the bench. Hauser gave us nothing, can the guy ever do a mid range shot or lay up? I’d like to see Stevens harassing defense and burly inside scoring on the floor, either way we have a lot of games left to develop the bench.

Jrue may have had a rough offensive game, but Randle could not shake him. He was all over him. What a strong guy!! Jaylen is going to be the one everyone will be watching for a while, but this is a learning curve for alot of these players. Roles are changling, trying to get Holiday comfortable, and Jaylen in a groove will be the things they will be working on daily. I was disappointed in the bench, and am still concerned that Kornet is NOT the backup we will rely on. There has to be something better out there

Very interesting game.  Clearly, when I saw the line, my mind goes back to the Knicks I've seen most of my life...complete and total non-factor.  They made no changes over the summer pretty much and kept their starting 5 that finished 4th in the East, so eventually we were going to look like we couldn't find our a$$e$ with both hands at times with all our changes.  But we didn't panic.

KP is the real deal.  Let's get that out on the table right  away and keep that there until evidence to the contrary.  I'm glad he popped that guy in the chops with 2:03 left in the 4th.  I flashed back to McHale v. Rambis.  KP is not going to take crap from anyone.  Let him loose.  Let him stay pissed.  What a floor spacer.  The 2 J's have to be salivating and foaming at the mouth with what they saw from KP.  I'll come back to that.  

Any Doc fans right out of the gate?!  I personally was very impressed.  He fit right in without being obnoxious.  Contributed some things that someone like myself would understand.  It might have come across as trivial to the rest on this site.  But him talking about the bench and not to panic.  Yes the final score there looked bad vs. Knicks bench but Doc was saying they were mixed in with the starters and you can't label the bench as sucking just yet.  I was disappointed in P-squared although he plays his heart out.  Doogie needs to get his head examined at this point.  I'm not getting it.

Doc mentioned when Al was hit with two moving picks, that typically it is not that person's fault for the foul.  It's the other guy on your team as he is the one moving and not relaying where he's going.  Priceless for the Village Idiot here.  Makes a lot of sense.  Never thought of that.  They'll figure that out.  

Doc also pointed out that with all those scoring options, it's going to take some time for everyone to figure out their spots and when to defer, when to charge forward, etc.  JB got the short straw last night.  But he deferred to KP for his trip back to NYC.  And KP delivered.

All in all, IMHBAO, I thought Doc's first venture to calling the game was very impressive.  Looked and sounded like a pro.  

Jrue is a beast on and around the three point line on defense.  That last play was spectacular.  Talk about being up in someone's jersey.  Put that pic in the dictionary next to the definition of how to cover the 3-point line.  NY could not and would not get a decent look. Priceless.    

Last but not least...Egos.  JB will draw first blood for getting pushed to the side for a game right out of the gate.  How will he react?  We'll see Friday.  Last night was the JB and KP Show.  I think we will see a totally different game Friday vs. Heat for a variety of reasons, first of which is to begin settling the score from a few months ago.  If we don't win by 30 on Friday, I'd be stupefied.  Once Boston plays a few games and everyone gets lined up and leaves any and all egos at the door as did PP, KG and RA in the fall of 2007, this team will quickly start to look and act like 2008.  

Yeah, Knicks crappy free throws killed them.  Our bench didn't really help us except for Al and Pritch.  Not the end of the world by any stretch.  It's not like they didn't show up at all.  They are finding their place at the table as well.  But they are going to have to make a splash to get the attention and time they deserve.  There's a lot of scoring to be had.      

Good news is, we can still go 82-0.  The Knicks can't.  Neither can the Lakers.  Hopefully after tonight, the Laker won't be able to go 81-1.    

db

P.S. I'm guessing no one is going to complain about Joe having "saved" two timeouts at the end of the game last night, using the 2nd one to move the ball up to their half of the court. Anyone? OK.

Chris Forsberg

@ChrisForsberg_
Celtics dispatched Jrue Holiday as primary defender on Julius Randle in last night’s opener.

Randle when Holiday was the primary defender, per NBA tracking data:

2 PTS
1-10 FG
2 BLK

Knicks were 4-23 FG with Holiday as defender. (10-48 FG vs Holiday and Porzingis)

https://twitter.com/i/status/1717527826759315844


Bob
MY NOTE:  I didn't see the game but this is one incredibly impressive stat.  Randle is MUCH bigger and stronger than Jrue, bigger and stronger than most players assigned to guard him.  Randle was 5-22 last night.  That means that Jrue guarded him for 10 of his 22 fgas, almost half, and he damn near shut him out.  2 points on 1-10 vs Jrue, 12 points on 4-12 vs all other defenders.


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Yeah, Jrue's a beast.  Bucks are going to regret that move come the second or third round of the EC playoffs. Initially, out of the gate, the KP and Jrue trades for Marcus, GW and RWIII were a significant upgrade.  

db

Good win, but hopefully just an opening night anomaly that the starters play so minutes. The bench definitely has to do a better job. Got to give Queta a chance as the backup 5. Luke just isn’t the answer. I think the starters will develop better chemistry as the season progresses and could be dominant. The spacing is off right now or maybe the Knicks just did a good job defending? Now let’s show the heat how lucky they were that Tatum sprained his ankle in game 7 and we gifted them the first two games

Fun to see Porzingis play at MSG, but in green this time.

Nice to get an opening night W. Close game but the Knicks are tougher than most realize.

Great, and I do mean great coaching job by Mazzulla. He knew exactly who to defer to and who to move away from late in the game, despite contracts and perceived star status. His use of timeouts was perfectly on the money.

The starters played a lot of minutes, but that is the way it has to be this year for this team. The top 7 got their minutes. Hauser and Kornet also got a fair number of minutes, but my guess is that won't happen much. I think Mazzulla will use early games to find out where the bench fits, so maybe a couple of others get some minutes next game.

It looked pretty obvious to me that this group will need some time to gel and create better chemistry, but that is to be expected with most teams having new faces in the lineup. Porzingis and Holiday made their presence known and the Holiday/White backcourt looks like it will be a defensive force this year. Holiday backed by Pritchard looks like it could be an overall upgrade at point guard.

The only noticeable failing point is that we still can't grab offensive boards. That's been true since about 1987, so I think we'll just have to live with it.

This will be a fun group to watch.

Sometimes you have to win ugly but at the end of the day we still get to add a W.

A couple of observations:

The Knicks shot 20 more FGA than the Celtics 97-77.  That was the most glaring issue and I was surprised that Boston played stretches of this game at a snail's pace.

This game shows that you can stink from deep and still win.

KP may be better than we imagined.  

The starting unit is not fully integrated yet.  That should be expected when you have 2 of 5 starters that are new to the team.

Our bench remains the biggest question mark for the team.  Horford came through down the stretch and PP somewhat redeemed himself but Sam is a guy in search of a shot.  Sam was pretty awful from deep during the preseason and he continues to struggle making open looks.  His 0-4 shooting from deep hurt the team.  PP went 0-3.  I recall a sequence on 2 possessions where Sam missed from one corner and PP missed from the other.  Kornet is not a dependable center.  He's soft.  That is what I see the most.  He may earn a new nick name.

One game does not make a season but if Kornet, Hauser and PP are the bulk of your rotation I would expect to see similar performances from them.  I hope I am wrong.  PP is the only one among that group I have full confidence in in terms of being a shot maker.

CJ will give them a chance to prove themselves before going with alternatives.

The Knicks, Bucks and cheese-wiz Sixers all appear to have better rotation guys.

Beat the Heat!

dboss,

I'm with you on tonight. Anything else less than us winning by 30 and sending a message to the rest of the league I will meet with great disdain and embarrassment by me. MIA was clearly outmatched by DEN and would have been beaten down by us had we not spotted them 3 games. And as a result of MIA sitting on their hands this summer, their team is worse than 3 months ago.

This team is going to have to learn the hard way like ALL the other 17 teams coming before them, that you annihilate every competitor in your sights early and often. We have a ton of messages to deliver this season and in the post season.

Hopefully the only potential eyesore for the team so far after one game...the bench sans Al and to a certain degree Pritch, will show up tonight like we are all hoping and expecting.