Celtics defeat Knicks 108-104 in Opening Night nailbiter 

The Celtics squeezed out an exciting win in opposition to the New York Knicks of their season debut regardless of struggling for a lot of the second half, largely because of a powerful efficiency from Kristaps Porzingis, who scored 9 consecutive factors for the Celtics down the stretch and completed with 30 factors on the night time. It was essentially the most ever scored by a Celtics of their debut sport.

Regardless of main for many of the sport, the Celtics fell down by six with 3:39 to go after a sequence of turnovers and defensive errors, however a Jrue Vacation layup, and 4 Porzingis free throws tied up the sport with two minutes to go. Then, with just below a minute and half to play, Porzingis hit a deep three and the Cs took a 104-101 lead.

A Julius Randle free throw and Isiah Hartenstein offensive board gave the Celtics a two-point lead with ten seconds left, when Payton Pritchard, checking in for Porzingis after spending a lot of the fourth on the bench, hit two clutch free throws that sealed the win.

After a profitable preseason and high-energy coaching camp through which gamers and coaches expressed vitality and pleasure for the yr forward, the Celtics stormed out to an early lead. Tatum was dominant, notably early on, and completed the night time with 34 factors (13-22 from the sector), 11 rebounds, and 4 assists. 19 of these factors got here within the first half.

Porzingis scored 30 factors on simply 8-15 discipline objectives, hit 9 of 10 free throws, and 5 of 9 threes. Defensively, his imprint was all around the sport, and he completed with 4 blocks. Taking part in in opposition to the crew the drafted him, Porzingis handled a refrain of boos all through the night time however got here out swinging with a 15-point first quarter.

For a lot of the sport, the ball was stagnant and the crew resorted to the kind of isolation ball this new-look group wish to keep away from. The Celtics shot 30.8% from three, a determine that always resulted in a loss final season. However, 42 factors within the paint and 18 quick break factors allowed them to beat these capturing struggles.

Jrue Vacation, Derrick White, and Jaylen Brown completed with 12, 9, and 11 factors, respectively. Payton Pritchard scored 4 factors in 11 minutes – together with the 2 big free throws down the stretch.

Horford comes off the bench

For less than the thirteenth time in his 16-year profession, Al Horford got here off the bench. He had beforehand expressed a want to begin, however modified his tune within the preseason when requested in regards to the matter.

“The kind of crew we now have, we now have a variety of depth. We now have a variety of gifted gamers,” Horford mentioned earlier within the preseason. “One among our strengths is our versatility as a crew. So there’s going to be occasions that we’re going to should go a sure approach. There’s different occasions that we bought to play huge, play small, issues like that. That’s simply the best way it’s.”

Teammates lauded Horford for his willingness to exit the beginning line-up. “Plenty of guys say they’ll do something to assist the crew win, however Al is the epitome of that,” Tatum mentioned at shootaround this morning. “We bought six starters, basically.”

Horford ended up ending with 8 factors on 3-4 capturing and seven rebounds in 26 minutes of motion.

Knicks stars wrestle

On the Knicks facet, the celebs struggled of their residence debut. Julius Randle, coming off of an All Star season however robust playoff run, completed with 14 factors on 5-22 capturing. Jalen Brunson, who had a breakout yr for the Knicks final yr, scored 15 on 6-21 capturing. Immanuel Quickley was a shiny spot off the bench; the had 24 factors, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists. RJ Barrett additionally completed with 24 factors.

The Celtics’ subsequent sport is on Friday at 7:30pm, at TD Backyard in opposition to the Miami Warmth. They’ll look to avenge final season’s disappointing Sport 7 loss with a win of their residence debut.