How Kristaps Porzingis is impacting Celtics despite injury absence
Yesterday at 05:51 PM
The Boston Celtics took an ugly loss to the Atlanta Hawks earlier this week but bounced back in resounding fashion Wednesday night, eviscerating the Brooklyn Nets on the road. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown both played well in this one, as Boston continued their three point avalanche to kick off the young 2024-25 season.
The Celtics now sit at 10-3 13 games into the campaign, and they’re doing so without the services of starting center Kristaps Porzingis, who is out for an extended period after undergoing surgery in the offseason.
However, that isn’t stopping the big man and former All-Star from finding ways to impact winning even when he is on the sidelines, per Noa Dalzell of CelticsBlog.
"Tonight, he was very verbal," Brown said about the Nets game. "He was in his coaching bag, giving guys what he was seeing out there. That's a good sign. That's a good signal that he's getting close. He's getting ready. His mind, his spirit is out there with us. We can't wait to welcome him back."
Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla also reiterated the importance of staying locked in even when not in action.
"It's important — especially for a guy that's not playing — to be as engaged as he is," Mazzulla said. "It makes it easier, as he starts to come back, to just plug him right in, because he's been here the whole time. That's a commitment. It's hard to sit there day-in and day-out to do that."
A scary proposition
The Celtics have raced out to a strong start this year without arguably their third most talented player after Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, and have shown no signs of any championship hangover from the world title they won five months ago.
Of course, in last year’s playoff run, the Celtics operated without Kristaps Porzingis in the lineup most of the time as he navigated various injuries, and Al Horford was able to hold down the frontcourt fort enough to help Boston cruise to the title.
However, there’s no denying that the Celtics are a different animal when the unicorn is on the floor, as Porzingis brings spacing that extends well beyond the three point line as well as rim protection that Boston doesn’t have anywhere else on the roster.
In any case, the Celtics will next take the floor on Saturday evening at home against the Toronto Raptors. That game is slated to tip off at 8:00 PM ET.
The post How Kristaps Porzingis is impacting Celtics despite injury absence appeared first on ClutchPoints.
