Kristaps Porzingis named a player on the New York Knicks who will be a tough matchup for any player.
The Boston Celtics will invite the New York Knicks for Game 1 of the series on Monday.
Paul Pierce has already given his former side the upper hand, but anything could happen in the playoffs.
The Knicks lost all four regular season games against the Celtics, but the postseason is a different ball game altogether.
Ahead of the series, Kristaps Porzingis stated what it was like to head back to Madison Square Garden for the playoffs.
He also named a player on the Knicks player who is a tough matchup and would take a team effort to contain.
Photo by Jason Miller/Getty ImagesPorzingis believes Karl-Anthony Towns is a tough matchup
Karl-Anthony Towns did not have the most consistent of series against the Detroit Pistons, despite averaging 19.7 PPG and 10 RPG.
He certainly shot the ball well, going 48% from beyond the arc, which ranks him among the best in the playoffs this season.
Towns will be up against Porzingis in the playoffs, a matchup which will be interesting as both are centers who love to shoot the ball.
Porzingis said: “With his talent offensively, he’s a tough matchup for anybody and it’s going to take a team effort to stop him.”
The Latvian will be hoping to turn his three-point shooting around as he has not particularly shot well against the Magic, making only 11.8% of his shots in the first round.
Porzingis speaks on the rise of the shooting bigs
Towns and Porzingis went first and sixth respectively in the draft class of 2015.
Both came in as centers who could stretch the floor well and since then upcoming bigs have adapted this into their game.
They have spent their careers wreaking havoc on the perimeter, a skill which not a lot of centers had in the past.
When asked about the impact he and Towns have had on the position, Porzingis said: “Me and KAT came into the league at the same time, he has been shooting the ball excellent throughout his career.
“For sure the next generation coming up they’re probably gonna be even better, taller.
“You see Wemby, taller, more athletic, better shooter etc. We are players who definitely started the trend and now all of the players are so skilled even bigs have to be skilled.”
The duo will be vital for their respective teams when the sides meet and both coaches will be hoping the bigs can shoot well as that could be pivotal in the series.