Kristaps Porzingis shined in his Boston Celtics debut with 30 points to lead his side to a big road win over the New York Knicks 108-104 on Thursday (all times AEDT).
It marked the most ever points by a Celtic on debut, with Porzingis adding eight rebounds and four blocks, while Jayson Tatum poured in 34 points with 11 rebounds.
With the Madison Square Garden showdown tight down the stretch of the fourth quarter, a contentious play with two minutes left saw Porzingis elbow Isaiah Hartenstein in the face after the pair got tangled up after the Boston recruit grabbed a rebound.
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Knicks fans let their thoughts be known on their former player, chanting ‘F*** Porzingis’ afterwards.
While Porzingis gave away a technical foul, Hartenstein committed a regular foul, sending Porzingis to the line as he tied the game up at 101-101 apiece with two free throws.
Porzingis then stepped up again with a huge go-ahead three-pointer inside two minutes remaining before making a pair of clutch free throws to ice the win for Boston.
Immanuel Quickley starred for New York with 23 points off the bench and RJ Barrett also scored 24, but it wasn’t enough for Tom Thibodeau’s side.
THUNDER’S PERFECT START AMID CHET’S ‘WELCOME TO NBA MOMENT’, BULLS ‘CONFLICT’
Josh Giddey’s OKC Thunder got their season off to a perfect start in a 124-104 road win over the Chicago Bulls.
The Thunder ran away with the game in the second half behind a game-high 31 points from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to go with five rebounds and 10 assists.
Jalen Williams (16 points) and Giddey (16 points, six rebounds, six assists) also had important cameos, while rookie Chet Holmgren added 11 points in his NBA debut.
It was an ideal opener for the Thunder in the franchise’s bid to return to the playoffs for the first time since the 2019/20 season.
For Chicago, DeMar DeRozan led the way with 20 points and Zach LaVine scored 16 in a forgettable first game for Billy Donovan’s squad.
It wasn’t without one grim moment for OKC though.
Andre Drummond wound back the clock during one play in the second term, showing up Holmgren in the Thunder rookie’s first game.
The Bulls centre stripped Holmgren on the defensive end, ran the floor, crossed over Holmgren and dunked.
And while only one game into the 82-match season, Donovan confirmed Bulls players were “in hearted conversations” when he entered the locker room post-match, per Chicago Tribune’s Julia Poe.
Donovan also noted players asked him to leave for them to handle the “conflict”, but emphasised that doing so was something he wanted his team to embrace this season.
Still, LaVine reportedly said the team ‘didn’t play with enough heart’ in the second half, which is never ideal in the first game of a new campaign.
ALL CURRENT RESULTS
ROCKETS 86 – MAGIC 116
CELTICS 108 KNICKS 104
WIZARDS 120 PACERS 143
HAWKS 110 HORNETS 116
TIMBERWOLVES 94 RAPTORS 97
PISTONS 102 HEAT 103
CAVALIERS 114 NETS 113
THUNDER 124 BULLS 104
PELICANS – GRIZZLIES
KINGS – JAZZ
MAVERICKS – SPURS
TRAIL BLAZERS – CLIPPERS
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