Kristaps Porzingis’ Career Figure for the New York Knicks reflects his New Role.
The New York Knicks will face Kristaps Porzingis and the Boston Celtics again on Monday after losing on opening night. In New York, he had his finest game of the season, scoring 30 points on 5-of-9 three-point shooting while also grabbing eight rebounds and blocking four shots.
Porzingis has been in all nine of Boston’s games and has just once failed to score in double figures. He’s averaging 19.6 points and 6.2 rebounds per game, down from 23.2 points and 8.4 rebounds in Washington last year. Porzingis’ role with the Celtics shifts on a nightly basis (subscription required), which he accepts.
“It doesn’t really matter to me as long as we’re playing the right way, making the right passes, shooting open shots, doing the right things,” Porziis said after defeating the Raptors 117-94. “It doesn’t matter who takes your shots when you have this level of talent.” It has to be the correct play, you know.”
Porzingis’ usage rate (21.6) is at a career low, but it isn’t cause for alarm, according to The Athletic’s Jared Weiss. That’s what happens when the starting lineup for Boston includes Jrue Holiday, Derrick White, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and KP.
Celtics’ Kristaps Porzingis has career-low usage rate through nine games
Joe Mazzulla is in his second season as the Celtics’ head coach, and his club is 7-2 so far. He understands that there will be times when Kristaps Porzingis’ full influence isn’t reflected in the box score, which he sees as a credit to the type of player the 28-year-old is.
Porzinigs is now with one of the league’s greatest teams after moving from New York to Dallas and finally to Washington. Boston won its previous championship in 2008, and the organization is hoping that 2024 will be their year. Porzingis’ commitment to do everything it takes to help his team win improves the Celtics, even if that means just shooting four shots in a game (like he did against Brooklyn).
He shone in his old haunts a few weeks ago, but hopefully the story will shift on Monday in Boston. Mitchell Robinson is having his greatest season yet, so he could be the center that stands out the most at TD Garden.
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New York Knicks (5-4) at Boston Celtics (7-2) Game #10 11/13/23
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The Celtics and Knicks will meet for the fourth time in less than a month, including the preseason. Boston spoiled Opening Night at Madison Square Garden on October 25th and will attempt to maintain their unbeaten record against their Atlantic Division foe after losing the regular season series 1-3 last year.
The Knicks had the league’s second best defense (104.7 points per 100 possessions) under head coach Tom Thibodeau, with the Celtics third at 104.9. Boston won their first encounter 108-104, despite shooting only 12-of-39 from beyond the arc and allowing New York to convert 18-of-41 threes.
When it comes to shooting percentages, there is undoubtedly some luck, especially in the first game, but with each club playing their tenth game of the season, identities are beginning to shape and solidify. It’s no surprise that a Thibodeau-led team has struggled on defense (after ranking 19th the previous year). its offense has suffered significantly as a result of shooting slumps by its two stars, Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle. The latter is averaging three mistakes per game while making less than 33.6% of his seventeen shot attempts.
Even if the Celtics are 7-2, it’s difficult to determine what they are at this juncture in the season. Sure, they’re winning games, but do they have a distinct identity? They have the highest net rating in the NBA (13.4), as well as the third most efficient offensively (118.5) and defense (104.9). I questioned the crew in our CelticsBlog Slack if they saw this squad as an offensive juggernaut or a defensive constrictor. Sam LaFrance indicated that the defense is more consistent, but none of it matters when the nets are on fire. In the Raptors’ annihilation on Saturday, they held a team to less than 100 points for the first time all season and assisted on 30 of their 47 field goals.
“We’re still in the early stages. “Our chemistry is going to improve so much,” Porzingis stated on Saturday night. “I’m telling you, it’s going to get a lot better.”
Back in October, the Knicks were able to maintain double-digit leads throughout the game and led for the entire of the fourth quarter thanks to timely shooting and expensive turnovers. With the rise of the second unit, the Celtics have avoided this trend in their last two blowouts over Brooklyn and Toronto this weekend.
If there’s an X-factor heading into tonight’s game, it could be the rotations at the back end. Boston’s bench was outscored 38-12 three weeks ago. Immanuel Quickley, a candidate for Sixth Man of the Year, had 24 points. Josh Hart and Isaiah Hartenstein both contributed seven points. Al Horford had eight, whereas Pritchard only had four. However, the Celtics’ second unit has averaging 32.5 points per game during the homestand, with Sam Hauser hitting 15 of his last 30 three-point tries.
The Knicks are on the second night of a back-to-back after defeating the Hornets on Sunday to clinch a three-game sweep at MSG. Boston hopes to accomplish the same before traveling for five of their next six games.
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