It was a smart move, in FanSided’s opinion, for Kristaps Porzingis to avoid bringing up the Bam Adebayo rivalry narrative while he was addressing media following the Boston Celtics’ 114-94 victory against the Miami Heat in the first game of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.

“All in all, it was wise of Kristaps not to feed into the narrative being pushed by the media since doing so might accidentally give Miami some added motivation/bulletin board material,” Delaney began by stating, “If Kristaps’ response is any indication, this series is all business for the Celtics.”

Porzingis wanted the media to concentrate on the fact that the game between the two Eastern Conference winners from the previous season is a five-on-five match rather than a one-on-one match between the starting centers of the two clubs.

Porzingis stated of Adebayo, “I don’t care about him” (via The Athletic’s Jared Weiss). “I’m concerned about our group and our goals. This isn’t a one-on-one situation with Bam. It’s the Heat vs. Celtics.

In the Heat’s Game 1 loss to the Boston Celtics, Bam Adebayo offered justifications.
Following the C’s easy, lopsided victory against the Heat in Game 1, Porzingis most definitely prevailed in the PR fight with Adebayo.

Adebayo attributed Miami’s crushing defeat on Boston’s early 14-2 run, which kept the score from being closer.

“If they don’t get out to a fast start right away, I think the game changes. We had a run in the fourth, as you mentioned,” Adebayo informed reporters (source: Inside The Celtics). “But, if that start doesn’t happen, if there’s a ball in the air or a ball on the floor and we get those 50-50 balls, it’s a different ballgame.”

Adebayo basically attempted to argue that the game would have been closer had the Celtics scored less points. As if points scored in the first 48 minutes of the game aren’t worth the same as any other points?