Kristaps Porzingis made his return to Madison Square Garden for the first time as a member of the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday and he was met with a chorus of boos all night.
Porzingis didn't have a terrible game, but his performance certainly wasn't grand enough to silence the New York crowd.
Knicks' forward Marcus Morris thought it affected Porzingis all night.
Marcus Morris says that the loud MSG crowd helped out with getting Kristaps Porzingis off his game:
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) November 15, 2019
"It looked like he was a little rattled too" pic.twitter.com/0tU5U2lTEF
"It was another level," Morris said of the crowd's response to Porzingis. "It looked like he was a little rattled too so it kind of helped us."
Porzingis – who was traded from the Knicks to the Mavs last season – finished the night with 20 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks in Dallas' 106-103 loss to New York.
Post-game, he acknowledged that he heard the boos but denied that it affected his game.
“I wouldn’t say it affected me,” Porzingis said of the boos. “I heard it of course. It was pretty loud. But I tried to play my game, stay focused and not think too much about what’s going on on the outside.”
When asked if the reception was fair, the former Knick didn't know if it was warranted or not.
“I don’t know if it’s fair or not,” Porzingis said of the vitriol. “It’s what they know, it’s what they heard, the fans.
“It is what it is.”
Porzingis and the Mavericks will have to look ahead now with their two games against the Knicks this season behind them. Dallas is currently 6-5, good for No. 8 seed in the tough Western Conference with the defending champion Toronto Raptors coming to town on Saturday night.
The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of the NBA or its clubs.
