Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals saw Kristaps Porzingis dominate the Miami Heat to such an extent that CBS Sports’ Sam Quinn is certain that a team finding a way to slow down the Latvian center will be the only thing standing in the Boston Celtics’ way of winning the banner this season.
Quinn made this statement following Porzingis’s 4/8 3-point shooting in Game 1 to neutralize Bam Adebayo’s defensive presence, forcing the Heat big man to focus on Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Derrick White’s rim rushes elsewhere.
Quinn began, “The idea was that a 7-foot-2 three-level scorer would not only increase the space for everyone else to work with, but would also lead to easy buckets for Porzingis himself simply because nobody is big enough to contest him at that size.” Quinn said, “Boston acquired him largely because of its offensive woes against Miami, specifically.” Miami’s top defensive big man, Bam Adebayo, is only 6-9.
“In Game 1, Porzingis demonstrated a proof of concept. In the victory, he converted four of his eight 3-point tries, setting up the Celtics for a playoff record 22 3-pointers made as a team. As expected, Adebayo’s height presents challenges for almost everyone, and he wasn’t much of a deterrent to Porzingis from deep. Your primary rim protector will suddenly be away from the rim when you focus on Porzingis. He can attack in a mismatch when a smaller player is placed on top of him. Miami failed to find a suitable solution to that issue in Game 1. The Celtics will most likely win the championship in June if no one takes action this postseason.”
If Kristaps Porzingis gets his way offensively, the Boston Celtics may defeat the Nuggets.
The Denver Nuggets, the reigning NBA Champions, are the club that most Celtics fans are most afraid of in the postseason. They hold a formidable 2-0 lead over the Los Angeles Lakers and appear to be unmatched in the west. The east simply doesn’t scare Celtics fans, despite the fact that the team could face difficulties from the tenacious New York Knicks, who are dominating their own first-round series against the Philadelphia 76ers, and Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard, who play for the Milwaukee Bucks, are a real threat.
If nobody else has ever played better basketball than Nikola Jokic, who is it? On the defensive end of the ball, Boston might not be able to meet that task. It goes without saying that in order to win a championship, the Cs would have to outscore the Nuggets in a series.
Fortunately, Porzingis is the key player that allows them to defeat Denver. Because Jokic and the rest of the Nuggets’ roster lack the necessary skills to stop Porzingis.
The importance of Porzingis in Banner 18 cannot be overstated.
