The Boston Celtics received some surprise reinforcements on Monday night against the Los Angeles Clippers when Kristaps Porzingis made his season debut notably earlier than had been previously anticipated. Porzingis’ return was a triumphant one, as he acquitted himself well in his first game action since the NBA Finals and the Celtics smothered the Clippers 126-94, but one small footnote still evaded this team — Al Horford sat out the second end of a back-to-back, depriving us of the opportunity to see the team at full strength for the first time this season.
We had to wait four days to get our wish. Horford returned to the court against the Chicago Bulls, and the Celtics fielded their entire ostensible playoff rotation — Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Kristaps Porzingis, Jrue Holiday, Derrick White, Sam Hauser, Payton Pritchard, and Horford — together at the same time. This was the squad that played the majority of the minutes in the clinching Game 5 of the NBA Finals (we’ll count Pritchard’s one-minute-and-some-change), making their collective season debut.
So, with all that in mind, how did they actually fare? The answer is a bit of a mixed bag.
We can start with the good: the Boston offense has looked like a world-beater all season, and they leveled up against Chicago. For the umpteenth time this season, it looked like the NBA single-game three-pointer record was in danger of falling — they finished with 23 makes this time. Tatum scored a ludicrously efficient 35 points (12-of-18 shooting), Porzingis tacked on 21 and Payton Pritchard continued his Sixth Man of the Year campaign with 29 and seven made three-pointers.
The Celtics can simply beat defenses in any way that they want, and Porzingis’ return has only amplified that quality. For all the handwringing about their massive three-point rates, they remain one of the most effective teams at the rim in the league. They entered tonight’s game shooting 67% within five feet of the basket, sixth-best in basketball and just a point shy of last year’s 68% (second-best). Adding a 7-foot-3 walking post mismatch into the mix is only going to drive that number higher. He’s already been up to his usual tricks, providing a cheat button the Celtics can hit at any point when they need to generate an easy look inside the arc.
And, yes, the Celtics take a lot of threes. People can complain as much as they’d like, but given how good they are at shooting them, it’s difficult to argue they should be doing anything else. After tying the NBA record for made threes in their season opener against the Knicks (and shamelessly, hilariously failing to break the record in garbage time), any given night seems like it could be the one where they finally topple it. Porzingis returning to the fray only makes that edge more comical. The KP pick-and-pop is one of the most effective spam plays in basketball.
If you’re going to nitpick this Celtics team, however, you can start on the defensive end. Things are a little more wobbly there. Per NBA Stats, their defensive rating has nudged down from last year’s second-best mark (110.6) to an eighth-place 111. It’s a subtle slip, less than half a point, but it tracks with the eye test — we’re seeing just a few more lapses than we’re accustomed to from this group. The Bulls scored 129 points in a regulation game tonight, and while they benefitted from some high-level shot-making that you just have to tip your cap to, it did feel at times like the Celtics weren’t providing enough resistance.
Porzingis’ return will help there too, of course. He’s far and away the most impactful rim protector on this team, and it helps that he siphons so many minutes away from the Celtics’ motley crew of flawed-but-useful backups. Luke Kornet has been banged up, Neemias Queta seems equally likely to record a highlight-worthy swat as he is to be caught miserably out of position and Xavier Tillman seems to be a situational consideration more than a rotation mainstay. Boston’s Latvian unicorn solves a lot of problems with his mere presence, and much like the Celtics’ close-range shooting percentage, you’d expect they’ll improve at the rim defensively with him taking over those minutes.
It must be mentioned that Pritchard’s increased role has an effect, too. He has been nails on the offensive end and plays with maximum effort as a defender, but it’s just difficult for a guard his size to truly move the needle defensively at the NBA level. The Celtics will always be covering for him on that end of the floor; their ideal defensive scheme revolves around big guards like Holiday and White overwhelming opposing teams’ ball-handlers. Pritchard deserves credit for how hard he works, but those physical disadvantages will always make him a target — a gambit that will easily be worth it if he continues to score at the torrid pace he has through the first quarter of the season.
The funny thing about this milestone — having the gang back together for the first time — is that is just might not matter. The Boston Celtics are 16-3 on the season to this point. They’ve found ways to win despite Porzingis’ absence and Horford’s limitations. It’s not like they’re eking them out either — they’re second to only the Oklahoma City Thunder in point differential, and put an end to the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 15-0 start to the season. We know the Celtics can win even when the script doesn’t go their way, and just as it was last year, the most important thing is not their regular season success, but whether or not they can put their core on the court in the playoffs.
Nonetheless, it was nice to get a glimpse of this team’s endgame, even if it was just one flawed performance in late November. These Celtics are still the most talented team in basketball, and all the talent is finally here. They’ve drawn within a half-game of Cleveland for the Eastern Conference lead, and with Porzingis back in the fold, it’s entirely possible they’re about to reclaim their throne and run with it. Friday night’s tilt with the Bulls gave us an enticing glimpse of what’s next to come.
