It was a first glimpse at the new-look Celtics as Kristaps Porzingis led them in overtime against the Knicks. Porzingis set a franchise record with 30 points in his debut, the most ever in a debut performance. Jayson Tatum led the Celtics with 34 points.

However, second-team All-NBA selection Jaylen Brown struggled. Brown finished with 11 points, six rebounds, and five assists while shooting 4-of-11. While he only had two errors, they were costly ones that contributed to six Knicks points late in the game. Despite some early difficulties, his teammates are unconcerned about him.

“It was just one game,” Tatum admitted. “We know how unique he is. Everyone is going to have bad shooting nights, but he still had an impact on the game in other ways. At the end, he got several crucial rebounds and loose balls to give us additional possessions. I’m not going to shoot the ball well every night, and neither will KP, but it’s all about how you impact the game in other ways. So JB will be just fine. He’ll most likely have a tremendous game on Friday.”

Brown did steady the game in the third quarter after a poor start. As Tatum pointed out, it’s also only one game. Brown also didn’t see much of the ball down the stretch as his teammates dominated, particularly Porzingis, whose nine straight points helped the C’s secure the victory.

When it comes to their new players, the Celtics are still in the learning process. Given that it is only Game 1 in an 82-game season, they have plenty of time to understand each other’s patterns. Brown, of course, is included in that, given he is coming off a career-best season that earned him his supermax contract.

“I thought he fit in,” said Cs coach Joe Mazzulla. “He made three plays with poise, one of which he hit KP, and I believe he made three passes that got us back on track.” I felt like it was a lengthy game, but there was a stretch there where he just needed to restore his composure. But once he did, he made three extremely terrific plays in my opinion.”