Kristaps Porzingis on Celtics Debut: ‘It Felt Great'

Kristaps Porzingis shined in his debut for the Boston Celtics with his big shot for the lead, embedding his name in franchise history.

Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

Kristaps Porzingis could not help but smile after hitting the game's biggest shot from deep to help the Celtics prevail over his old Knicks back at Madison Square Garden. He gave the Celtics' fans a dream and then some on opening night, setting a franchise record with 30 points, the most in a Boston debut.

"We're a talented group... we have to make sure we bring that defense every night"@tvabby caught up with Kristaps Porzingis after the win pic.twitter.com/lh4iZDNNcb

— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) October 26, 2023

The Celtics seemed to have been in trouble, going down six in the remaining minutes. Their leading scorer other than Jayson Tatum in Porzingis was in foul trouble as he was getting tangled with the Knicks' Isaiah Hartenstein. But Porzingis' three gave Boston the lead with over a minute to go as they went on to beat New York 108-104.

"I think it was a team effort," Porzingis said. "Everybody made some key plays at the end, some important ones. Payton (Pritchard) came in late, cold, without a warmup, hit two big free throws. I think it was a team effort, with JT (Tatum) leading us. JT was great today, and yeah. Great win on the road to start the season."

Porzingis was also displaying what he could provide vocally, being loud in huddles. He knew he and, of course, the Celtics, had been in plenty of these situations before.

"Just to stay calm," the 2018 All-Star said the message was. "I think everybody's experienced enough not to overreact to these kind of things. You know, you're on the road, the Garden gets loud, and fans get crazy, and we just have to stay poised, and that's what we did and it worked out for us."

Porzingis came out scorching against his former team with 15 points in the first quarter on 5-8 from the field. He was also a huge reason why the Knicks had a poor opening quarter offensively. 

"It felt great," Porzingis said. "Felt great; honestly, no, I was happy about the first quarter. I just didn't feel great at first, but I was happy about the first quarter; we started off really good as a team."

The new Celtics' big man knew the momentum was changing at the end with his foul trouble. He continued to show love for his team and the effort on the night.

"The game changes, and then again, later in the game, I had opportunities and went back into the game, made free throws, made some shots, and that's it. I love the way we played; I love the way we stayed in the game throughout all the tough moments; and I'm excited about what's coming ahead of us."

Porzingis talked more about what he learned about Boston during the Opening Night victory at MSG. It was nothing he had not already known, but just like the rest of the team, he knows defense is the main focus.

"First of all, something we already knew in we're a talented group," Porzingis said. "Even when the offense wasn't great for us, that we can lock in defensively and keep them almost around 100 points, which is, you know, really good. We have to make sure we bring that defense every night."

Porzingis, throughout the preseason and thus far now, has seemed to be nothing short of a dream acquisition for the Celtics. His debut and big shot are the ultimate example of that.