Kristaps Porzingis Elevates Celtics In Emotional Win Against Grizzlies

The Celtics expected to face their former teammate Marcus Smart in the team's first game against the Grizzlies since the three-way deal that sent Smart to Memphis and allowed Boston to land Kristaps Porzingis from Washington.

In a close game that saw seven ties and 18 lead changes, Porzingis was huge on both ends of the court for the Celtics, finishing the game with 26 points, eight rebounds and six blocks.

"Emotional game and some emotions at the end. These guys played hard and they came to win," Porzingis told Abby Chin, as seen on NBC Sports Boston's postgame coverage. "We had to grind this one out. We didn't have our best game. We took them seriously but those guys can play and we're just happy to come out with a win."

In a game where Memphis was missing star players like Smart, Derrick Rose and Ja Morant, Boston should have outplayed the Grizzlies instead of the close battle to the final buzzer.

"I don't think we were taking them lightly," Porzingis told reporters, as seen on NBC Sports Boston's postgame coverage. "I think maybe just a little bit of lack of focus in some situations. (The Grizzlies) they played hard. They played really hard and they came to win."

Porzingis continued: "Maybe we have that feeling that we're gonna win anyway. A little bit of that feeling creeping up and we have to stay even sharper in those situations in those types of games."

The Celtics big man not only scored the game-winning dunk with just over a minute to play but he also blocked Ziaire William’s 18-foot shot as time expired to secure the Boston win.

Porzingis noticed the clock was getting low (only 7.1 seconds remained in the game) as he was running toward the other end of the court after Jrue Holiday missed a dunk.

"It was just instant to jump forward to block," Porzingis said of the last play. "Honestly, a little bit too much emotion. I want to almost apologize to (Williams) about my body language towards the end but it was just such an emotional game."

Porzingis found himself in foul trouble with four personals, and he said that added to the emotions of the game.

"It was just so much emotions throughout the game just building up," he said. "... From my perspective, of course, I'm biased, I'm feeling like all these calls are going against me and then (Williams) is asking for that one when I cleanly blocked him. I just kind of reacted to that a bit too much."

The final minute of the game was complete chaos with each team having a chance to change the final score, but ultimately Porzingis' block sealed the victory for Boston.