Kristaps Porzingis arrived at the court 2 1/2 hours before his Garden debut, hoping to get a feel for his new home.
"My shot is good," he said after the warmup.
But then the game started and Porzingis, the starting power forward, looked like a 20-year-old rookie during an up-and-down 20 minutes. The Latvian missed his first two shots while committing a nervous turnover. He was 1-for-4 with four points in his first 16 minutes, before nailing a 3-pointer off a pick-and-roll with Sasha Vujacic.
He finished Wednesday's 100-81 victory of Brazilian team Bauru with seven points on 2-of-7 shooting with two rebounds and two turnovers.