The Celtics gave plenty of rest to their regulars Monday night but one important starter (Kristaps Porzingis) returned to the floor in a 119-94 win over the Pistons. Porzingis was cleared for action for the first time in 11 days after suffering a hamstring strain in Denver earlier this month.
The center got the start in a double big lineup alongside Luke Kornet in his return as Boston went with the unusual look with Al Horford and Jayson Tatum getting the night off. Boston’s training staff has been very cautious with the big man during his recovery and that trend continued on Monday night. Porzingis played just the first six minutes of the first half in his return to the floor.
The big man ramped up his activity in the second half, playing 15 straight minutes to open the frame while posting an impressive line in his return. Porzingis scored 20 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the field and added eight rebounds in just 22 minutes of action. He also tallied a block and a steal in the win.
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“It felt great,” Porzingis said. “Yeah, just different because I had the minutes restriction. Just different spurts of playing. I barely played in the first and then in the second I had a longer stretch. Something unusual, but other than that it’s always good to be out there.”
More importantly for Boston, Porzingis looked like his old self after one of his longer absences of the year. He moved well on the defensive end with both switches and providing help from the weakside.
One of the biggest question marks throughout Porzingis’ career has been his durability but the Celtics have managed the big man quite well to this point. He had a host of minor ailments throughout the season but his absence of five games ended up being the longest stretch out of the year.
“Definitely more cautious here,” Porzingis said. “I could have played through more stuff, 100 percent. But I understand that there will be a time and place for me to play through stuff. Especially at this point in the season, we’re in a pretty good spot, and we know what’s the most important thing is, is the playoffs. And that’s what we need to be – healthy, fresh, and ready to leave everything out there.
“So it’s a different mindset here than on other teams that I’ve been on. But of course, me as a player, I always want to be out there against, no disrespect, but if it’s like Detroit, if it’s against whoever, the regular season, end of the season, I don’t care. I want to be out there, you know? Just having in mind the big picture.”
With just 14 games left in the regular season and homecourt advantage in the Eastern Conference all but wrapped up for Boston, the Celtics have nearly made it to the finish line already with Porzingis. There will be no incentive to play him big minutes for the rest of the regular season from a win-loss standpoint so the team can now strictly focus on working his way towards peaking in the postseason.
There will certainly be games left where the team wants him to build up some stamina against elite opponents (Milwaukee, Oklahoma City, New Orleans) but the team has always kept the big picture in mind. That’s something Porzingis has been willing to do as well dating back to him sitting out the FIBA World Cup with a foot injury. That cautious mentality has led to the best season of Porzingis’ career and has put Boston in a prime position to be healthy with the finish line of the regular season in sight.
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