Kristaps Porziņģis makes key offensive impact in Celtics return
After missing eight straight games due to an unknown viral illness, Boston Celtics center Kristaps Porziņģis returned to the C’s lineup in Saturday night’s 115-113 victory over the Brooklyn Nets. The big man provided a noticeable boost to the Green’s offense. He was able to register 32 minutes of play time — third most among all Celtics — despite missing roughly three weeks of play.
But, not only was Porziņģis often on the court, he also was productive, registering a team leading 24 points. He gave the C’s the much-needed addition of reliable scoring inside, something they’ve seemed to miss over the last few weeks. He ended the night 9-for-16 (56.3 percent) from the floor. However, the one aspect of his offensive game that lacked was his three-point shooting — he finished 1-for-7 from beyond the arc.
Oddly enough, Porziņģis’ illness did not seem to have too much impact on his play on Saturday, nor did the missing of multiple weeks of play.
“It was extremely, extremely frustrating,” Porziņģis said about the uncertainty of his illness. “At the end it was some sort of, I don’t know exactly, but I think it was some sort of upper-respiratory thing that turned into like something heavier.”
Regardless, Porziņģis being back in the Celtics lineup and healthy gives the team a massive offensive boost, particularly down low. They will need him at top form for the final stretch of the regular season leading into the playoffs in less than a month.
Luke Graham is a digital sports content co-op for 98.5 the Sports Hub. He is currently a sophomore at Northeastern University studying communications and media studies. Read all his articles here, and follow him on X @LukeGraham05.
