How Celtics Felt Kristaps Porzingis Exit Impacted Game 1 Loss To Knicks

Kristaps Porzingis took the floor to begin Monday night’s Boston Celtics-New York Knicks Eastern Conference semifinals opener at TD Garden, but the 7-foot center didn’t last too long before making an early departure.

It only took 13 minutes before Porzingis made an unexpected exit in the second quarter and headed toward the players’ tunnel. Porzingis shot 0-for-4, going scoreless through one of his all-time worst showings in a Celtics uniform. He returned after halftime and warmed up with the team, but the illness that prompted the second-quarter leave was enough to keep Porzingis sidelined through the remainder of Boston’s 108-105 overtime loss.

Even though the Celtics had countless opportunities to put the Knicks away in Game 1, the team acknowledged that the absence of Porzingis played a factor.

“KP is big for us,” Jrue Holiday told reporters postgame, per CLNS Media. “Obviously, he’s so versatile. A person who can either play in the paint or stretch the floor, protects the rim, protects the paint, blocks shots and we definitely miss him. We’ve always had this next man up mentality and until we know what’s up with KP, we’ll just have to have that same mentality.”

Boston’s depth didn’t make a long enough appearance to weather the storm of Porzingis’ early clock-out. The Celtics held a 20-point lead in the third quarter, got complacent and allowed Jalen Brunson to make TD Garden feel like Madison Square Garden. Brunson fueled a jaw-dropping New York comeback that saw the Knicks go on a 20-9 run to end the third quarter, filled Boston’s crowd with silence in disbelief and threw the Celtics off their A-game for good.

Brunson and OG Anunoby both delivered a game-high 29 points as New York ran circles around Boston’s settled 3-point frenzy. The Knicks missed 14 free throws, committed 12 turnovers and still managed to beat the reigning champions on their home floor. It was an awfully difficult pill for the Celtics to swallow, especially when the contest was in Boston’s control without Porzingis in the second half.

The Celtics didn’t have any developing updates on Porzingis following the loss.

“I haven’t seen him yet, but obviously it impacts the game with his ability on both ends of the floor,” Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla said, per CLNS Media. “And it obviously changes sub patterns, it changes the things you’re able to do matchup-wise and play call frequency-wise. So yeah, I think we felt — but you know, it’s no excuse. We had plenty of opportunities to do it, and hopefully he’s ready for Game 2.”

Porzingis has been Boston’s No. 1 health-related concern ever since team president of basketball operations Brad Stevens swung a three-team blockbuster two offseasons ago to put him in a Celtics uniform. Mazzulla’s crew fought through last year’s playoffs without Porzingis after he suffered a first-round ankle injury and reached the NBA Finals without him. But this go-around, the Celtics aren’t facing injury-riddled competition and teams — like the Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers — pulled off major roster improvements of their own, designed to dethrone Boston.

If the Celtics intend to even up their series with the Knicks on Wednesday night, with or without Porzingis, they’ll need to take a long look in the mirror because there’s no 7-footer on the planet tall enough to bail Boston out of its Game 1 disaster.

The Celtics went 28-13 following a loss at home in the regular season.