Kyrie Irving and young guns carry Boston to victory
On the night of Jaylen Brown’s 21st birthday, the Celtics stepped up to the plate and dominated the Knicks end to end. Boston’s rising stars were rolling while Kyrie Irving ran the offense like a well oiled machine.
Brown celebrated his special day by dropping a team high 23 points and locking down his defensive assignments all night long. Fellow third overall pick Jayson Tatum dropped a career high 22 points as the two treasured talents drove their team past New York 110-89.
Although the Celtics lost coveted offseason addition Gordon Hayward in the first game of the year, Brown and Tatum have risen to the challenge and made up for the lost offense in three games since Hayward’s gruesome leg injury. The pairing lacks the vision and leadership that the fallen Allstar posses, but should have plenty of time to develop their limitless talent while Hayward recovers.
For the star crossed New York Knicks, the story of their season has already jumped out to a rocky start. In this game, the narrative was no different.
After moving on from the Carmelo Anthony era, the Knicks handed Kristaps Porzingis the keys to the franchise. They anticipated some fairly large adjustments in Porzingis adapting to his new role, but likely didn’t see him fighting for his life to break double digits against a poor defensive team like the Celtics.
Thanks to some stingy defense and more than a few double teams, Porzingis was held to a pathetic 12 points on an even worse 3-14 shooting. To make matters worse, the Unicorn forced unnecessary shots and was bullied into submission by the unrelenting physicality of Boston’s big men.
The Latvian passes the eye test on offense and seems comfortable in his new position and role on the team. However, his defense has declined by leaps and bounds and without a true second option on the roster, the power forward will face game plans centered on denying him easy access to the basket.
Though it’s certain to be a season filled with hardships and frustrating lessons, the inexperienced star will likely mature and grow for the better.
