Kristaps Porzingis Upgraded Before Celtics-Knicks Game 2 Clash
Boston Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis is set to return for Wednesday night’s Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the New York Knicks.
Porzingis made an early departure after logging 13 minutes in the series opener. The 7-footer, while struggling amid a scoreless 0-for-4 shooting performance, walked off the court in the second quarter with a non-COVID-19 illness. Porzingis returned for halftime warm-ups with the team, but the Celtics didn’t get their go-to inside threat back for the remainder of their 108-105 loss that gave New York an early 1-0 series lead.
Boston upgraded him to available, per team announcement, before the Celtics took the floor at TD Garden.
Since the Celtics will treat Game 2 like a must-win situation before the series heads over to Madison Square Garden, having Porzingis back should be a game-changer. His ability to space the floor, knock down shots from anywhere and bolster the team’s defense makes Boston better. Porzingis wasn’t the reason why the Celtics blew a 20-point lead and collapsed miserably in Game 1 against a Knicks team that failed to defeat them across four regular-season meetings. It took a monumental lack of discipline, self-awareness and feel for the moment from the Celtics.
“Whatever gives us the best chance to win, that’s what we’ll do,” Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla said pregame when asked if Porzingis would be on a minutes restriction, per CLNS Media.
Boston tripped over its arrogance and fired away an NBA playoff record 60 3-pointers and missed 45 of them — which also set a league record. Even though the Knicks missed 14 free throws, watched Jalen Brunson struggle with nine first-half points and were hanging on the ropes in the third quarter, the Celtics faltered. They had an open lane to cross the finish line, but instead, threw their effective offensive scheme in the trash and handed a comeback opportunity to New York head coach Tom Thibodeau.
The Celtics would be wise to identify the trend of teams such as the Cleveland Cavaliers and Oklahoma City Thunder struggling in their respective second-round series, and counter. Boston already overcame a physically taxing first-round battle with the Orlando Magic, so putting away the Knicks as quickly as possible would be rewarding beyond punching a ticket back to the conference finals.