LAS VEGAS — Kristaps Porzingis said he felt a little nervous on the bus ride over to Thomas & Mack Center on Saturday afternoon. He was set to make his debut for the Knicks in the N.B.A. summer league, and if he was anxious, it was understandable.
“I told myself to chill out,” Porzingis said. “So I was calm, and I went out there and played how I play.”
In a game that vacillated between sloppy and spirited, Porzingis displayed some of the gifts that had emboldened the Knicks to make him the fourth overall pick at last month’s draft: a deft shooting stroke, his ability to affect shots on defense and his willingness to mix it up in the post, even if stronger opponents tended to push him around like a shopping cart.