Kristaps Porzingis will make his season debut tonight versus the Los Angeles Clippers, per ESPN’s Shams Charania. Porzingis returns 5 months after present process foot surgical procedure for the primary time since serving to the Celtics seize Banner 18 within the 2024 NBA Finals.
Boston will get an enormous increase from Porzingis’ shot-creation and rim-protection, with Jayson Tatum not too long ago describing his lacking teammate because the workforce’s “cheat code”. The Celtics had struggled to fill within the heart place in his absence, needing each to handle Al Horford’s minutes and rotate between Luke Kornet and Neemias Queta. The latter received the lion’s share of minutes recently however has struggled with ending on the rim and defending the pick-and-roll.
His return will come as shocking to many given prior experiences. Preliminary hypothesis slated Porzingis to return someday round Christmas, and with Boston seeking to defend their title, there didn’t appear to be a purpose to hurry him again to the lineup.
Nonetheless, experiences earlier this season recommended Porzingis’ restoration was going higher than anticipated. He started rehabilitating with Boston’s Maine affiliate simply over every week in the past. Sitting at 14-3 in an average-at-best Jap Convention, it’s unlikely the Celtics would danger Porzingis long-term well being if they didn’t consider he was absolutely wholesome.
With Porzingis at most output, the Celtics go from a top-level contender to a borderline-unbeatable juggernaut, presenting groups with too many offensive issues to realistically clear up in 48 minutes. The Clippers would be the first workforce to provide it a attempt Monday evening.
