Apparently for the past week, Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla knew that star center Kristaps Porzingis would be making his season debut on Monday against the Los Angeles Clippers.
As for the rest of us, we only found out about eight hours before tipoff, when Celtics Wire’s Cameron Tabatabaie broke the news.
Porzingis hadn’t played since Game 5 of the NBA Finals, before suiting up against the Clippers. He had been working his way back from a torn medial retinaculum allowing dislocation of the posterior tibialis tendon in his left leg, throughout the summer and opening months of this season.
“It has been killing me inside not to be able to be out there, but it was worth the wait,” he told NBC Boston’s Abby Chin in his walk-off interview after the win.
Many had expected him to return closer to Christmas Day, but it was clear very early on that it wouldn’t take that long, according to Celtics President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens.
“I don’t think we realized it until we really got into camp and then you see him work,” said Stevens on Monday’s NBC Sports Boston broadcast. “When we saw him in Abu Dhabi, the way he was moving and the way he felt, it was pretty obvious he was going to be at the front end of that timeline.”
Stevens also revealed that KP had scrimmaged in Washington last Thursday, after practicing with the Maine Celtics earlier in the week.
Those two sessions clearly helped him get ready, because he fit in with the Cs seamlessly.
“It felt like nothing like just ‘boom, I’m back in the in the lineup,’” he said. “I think we already, honestly, it was already a pretty smooth transition last season, when I started playing for the first time and then once we found a little bit of rhythm… it was very natural to me for me to be back out in the in the starting lineup.”
The big man finished the night with 16 points, six rebounds, and a pair of blocks, while shooting 6-12 from the field in his season debut.
“I thought he played well,” said Joe Mazzulla. “Just be able to get back to some of our defensive versatility. Obviously, a little bit of rim protection, a little bit more physicality on the ball, because it was back there, and so I thought he brought that offensively. Just really helped our spacing. So, it was good to get him back.”
It was clear that Boston wanted to get him involved right from the opening tip. They featured Porzingis in the offense with some early pick-and-pop actions. He only sank one of the four triples that he took, but none of the shots were forced and all came as clean looks. After about seven minutes of play, he took a rest before re-entering the game in the second quarter.
This was the first time where he REALLY looked like himself, not to say that he looked lost or anything, it just takes a bit to get comfortable again out there.
“But, I mean, obviously the first wind is pretty crazy,” Porzingis explained. “You know, lungs burning, legs burning everything.”
He showcased his shot-blocking ability with a loud block on former Providence College star Kris Dunn, which forced a 24-second violation.
A few possessions later, we got our first “Cookies and Cream” connection of the season as KP threw down a big alley-oop slam off of a lob from Jaylen Brown, even though, according to him, his legs were tired.
“Even on the couple of lobs. Like, JB threw me a lob, Payton threw me lob, like, both of them I had flat tires, like crazy. Like, didn’t get up at all.”
Even though KP’s tires were flat, his presence was still appreciated. Brown pointed to his presence on defense as a real difference-maker.
“We are a different team with KP out there defensively and protecting the room, and defense is key for us. You know, I think we kind of took our foot off of gas in the third quarter, and we’ll work on that. But when we’re locked in playing defense, like how we started the game, and then that second quarter, it’s gonna be tough for teams, so we just got to keep that mentality, and that’s what I want to see from guys. I want to see KP making an impact on defense.”
Despite the Cs scoring a whopping 51 points in the second quarter, they struggled to start the second half. Boston’s 29-point lead was cut to 18 with about seven minutes remaining in the frame. Porzingis helped to weather the ongoing storm with six quick points, displaying the added offensive punch that Mazzulla mentioned. He first showcased his post-game, then got to the free throw line, and finally capped the sequence with a thunderous dunk.
Even though the stakes weren’t high here, it was great to see Kristaps’ value on full display during a tense stretch for the team. It’s tough to fathom how a team that was 14-3 before Porzingis’ return can re-unlock a whole new level of play, but it was so evident in this one.
