Boston Celtics: Kristaps Porzingis sends strong message on Jayson Tatum

After months and months of waiting, Kristaps Porzingis finally made his preseason debut for the Boston Celtics on Sunday night. It was his first time sharing the floor with Jayson Tatum and he enjoyed it quite a bit.

Porzingis explained what it was like to play alongside Boston’s No. 0 for the first time.

“It’s just super easy, honestly,” Porzingis said after the 114-106 win over the Philadelphia 76ers (h/t Souichi Terada). “Those guys are so talented. Jayson just draws so much attention that it opens things up. That’s a perfect scenario for me.”

It sure looked easy for Porzingis, who was wildly impressive in his first game in green. The big Latvian finished the night with 17 points, five rebounds, and a block in the Payton Pritchard-inspired preseason-opening win against the Sixers.

Kristaps Porzingis is thrilled to be a member of the Boston Celtics

Boston’s new No. 8 was also asked what it was like to take the parquet in front of the home fans for the first time.

He responded by absolutely beaming and then spewing nice things about the fans and the organization.

“That was insane,” he said. “That was insane for a preseason game. I don’t know what to say. Fun game to play in, fun game to watch at the end when Payton was going off & the whole crowd was into it. It was just – I’m very happy to be a Celtic. I’m not gonna lie.”