Celtics exude the familiar machismo with Porzingis back on the court, originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Kristaps Porzingis is back. And that includes the championship-level Celtics.
Porzingis’ surprise return lived up to all the hype. From a goosebump-inducing walkout from the Celtics’ locker room, to the anticipatory rumble in TD Garden as Porzingis emerged from the tunnel, to the full-throated roar as the 7-foot-10 man threw his arm skyward to acknowledge the crowd.
With one last sip of his double espresso, Porzingis hit the parquet floor and immediately helped the Celtics let the rest of the league know that this team is truly the favorite to repeat as NBA champions.
It feels strange to say that Porzingis is the most important part of a team overflowing with talent, including All-Stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown and the All-Defense tandem of Derrick White and Jrue Holiday. Perhaps it’s better to suggest he’s more like the final infinity stone, the one piece that transforms the Celtics from great to something that often feels untouchable.
The numbers suggest the Celtics are doing just fine without Porzingis. Boston has an .833 regular-season winning percentage when Porzingis is sidelined (35-7 last season including playoffs; 14-3 this year). That mark actually drops to .758 when he is on the field, after posting a 44-14 record with him in the lineup.
But the eye test tells a different story.
The Celtics are just a different beast with Porzingis on the court, from the rim protection that seemingly unlocks another level of defensive aggression to his offensive versatility that makes a historic Boston offense even harder to defend.
Think about this: Boston is ranked 24th in the NBA, while opponents are shooting 65.6 percent from within 6 feet in 17 games this season without Porzingis. That number plummeted to 51.5 percent in Porzingis’ debut against the Clippers. Boston can gamble more with Porzingis on the backline, and that manifested in a combined 21 steals and blocks, the second-highest stock production of the season for Boston (22 shares in a 30-point win over the Hawks).
When the Celtics scored 51 points in the second quarter and tied an NBA record with 12 3-pointers, you could feel the air coming out of a Clippers team that had won five straight and played one of the NBA’s best defenses this season. Even with Porzingis on the bench, Payton Pritchard and Sam Hauser took turns bombarding the Clippers with triples in a quarter that brought back plenty of memories of Boston’s dominance a season ago.
The final score was a 126-94 shellacking of the Clippers in Porzingis’ return. The real result was a clear message to the rest of the league that the Celtics are back at championship level as well.
Not that they ever really left. Boston was riding at 14-3, including a signature victory last week over the previously undefeated and Eastern Conference-leading Cleveland Cavaliers. But the Celtics didn’t exactly look like the team that spent much of last season picking on opponents and then clawed their way to a 16-3 record in the postseason.
Porzingis was huffing and puffing early, but showed less rust than you might think after a five-month rehabilitation from ankle surgery. He finished with 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting (he was 5-of-6 from inside the arc) to go along with six rebounds, two blocks, two assists and a steal over 22:37.
There’s just a joy when Porzingis is on the field that permeates this team. The Celtics aren’t averse to having fun regardless of player availability, but from Derrick White checking his pockets during 3s after his fifth trifecta of the night to Al Horford yelling, “Pritch please!” After Pritchard made one of his six triples, the Celtics wore Porzingis’ permanent grin all Monday.
With Porzingis back in the lineup, the Celtics exuded a familiar machismo.
It won’t always look as good as it does in that dominant second frame. The start of the third quarter showed that Boston is still more than capable of losing focus for a maddening amount of time. But the Celtics caught themselves and tore the game open again.
If the rest of the NBA was hoping the Celtics would fall victim to a championship hangover, Porzingis’ return could be Boston’s IV therapy. After returning essentially the same roster from a season ago, the Celtics were always a threat to repeat. Their play on Monday night was a reminder that the gap between them and other contenders may still be a chasm.
It’s hard to watch this team and not wonder how an opponent can beat them four times in a seven-game series. There’s just too much talent. Boston needs to stay healthy — with Porzingis at the top of the list for retention — but his return gives the team a jolt at a point in the calendar when it would have been easy to get caught daydreaming.
Porzingis’ return was just like his beloved double espresso Monday night. The Celtics felt whole again, even while playing without the backup big man combo of Horford and Luke Kornet.
There are still plenty of steps to get back to where they want to go. But getting Porzingis back was a tall order. And it certainly feels like these Celtics are still many steps ahead of the pack early in the NBA calendar.
