The new-look Celtics opened their preseason slate Sunday against the 76ers with a spirited 114-106 victory.
Here are the takeaways.
1. Kristaps Porzingis was as advertised offensively — an intriguing blend of floor-spacing and versatility at an absurd height. He buried the first field-goal attempt of the game from 24 feet out, dropped Danuel House Jr. to the floor with a jab-and-go that led to a big two-handed slam, and threw down this lob from Derrick White all in the first quarter.
Defensively, the Celtics will need to work through some issues with his drop coverage, which allowed Tyrese Maxey to break free for a couple of open 3-point attempts out of the pick-and-roll, and Joe Mazzulla called for Porzingis to be more of a rebounder postgame (Porzingis finished with five in 25 minutes).