LOS ANGELES — Kristaps Porzingis remained in a bright spot in the ugliest loss of the year for the Celtics on Thursday night against the Lakers. The big man posted a team-high 22 points in and seven rebounds, shooting well from the field (9-of-16) and 3-point range (2-of-5). Amid up and down play from the team over the past month, Porzingis has turned into arguably Boston’s most consistent performer in January. He’s averaging 19.4 points per game on 48 percent shooting. His 3-point shooting woes have disappeared (46.7 percent). These are all promising signs for a guy coming off a major offseason leg surgery.
“I’m feeling pretty good, honestly,” Porzingis said Thursday night. “I’m having again good starts early on. Guys are finding me early on. I’m hitting shots. My percentages and 3-pointers are going up. Starting to feel better physically. I’m getting there. If I’m not there, I’m getting there. It’s a good sign. I want to keep playing this way and all of us just to have more consistent performances as a team and we’ll be good.”
This stretch is probably about as good as it gets from Porzingis for Boston, at least offensively. He’s been looking like his efficient self from last year, feasting against mismatches in postups again while also hitting the 3-ball again with more regularity (38.4 percent on the season).
Despite this stellar month, the Celtics are just 5-4 in January in games he’s played and are just 7-5 in the month overall. Therein lies the concerning part of this equation for the Celtics. For awhile, Boston could point to the need to reintegrate Porzingis as the cause for their mediocre stretch. Now? Porzingis is far from the problem. He’s been one of their biggest weapons, yet the inconsistency remains.
The starting five has found its footing again and collectively, they played well against the Lakers in 12 minutes (plus-20 net rating). That’s three straight strong performances from that unit. Everything else beyond that specific grouping struggled Thursday night.
Boston’s offense is floundering a lot in different areas on the whole. The 3-point shooting remains mediocre. Boston’s starting backcourt has disappeared offensively most nights. Jaylen Brown’s 3-point shooting has sharply regressed. Payton Pritchard is falling back to earth more often. Collectively, Boston has looked like an ordinary team for more than a month now. The group is 10-10 in their last 20 games after a 21-5 start, yet there is no concern within the locker room after the loss.
“I’m not concerned but it’s a part of just navigating the year,” Jaylen Brown said. “Anything can happen. We just need to finish through All-Star break strong and then get ready to gear up going in towards the playoffs and just continue to stay with it, stay with it, stay the course, stay the course, because I feel like we’re still the best team out there. We’ve just gotta put it all together.”
Porzingis also pointed to the tough schedule reality of the matchup Thursday as a way to explain a lethargic performance.
“I think we’re starting to play better, but we just didn’t have a good night tonight,” Porzingis said. “We had a back-to-back. That has to go into the equation, so that’s honestly what it is a little bit. But to be honest I feel like we are starting to play better and I think we’ll be fine.”
Boston’s championship pedigree gives them the ability to earn some benefit of the doubt here. Yet, it’s hard not to feel like this is a different team this year despite the same names returning unless things start to shift soon. An uneven week has turned into an uneven month and contenders generally don’t alternate wins and losses for weeks on end in the regular season.
With no back-to-backs on the horizon until after the All-Star break, the time is now for this Celtics team to show they can play consistent basketball again. Porzingis is ahead of schedule getting back to his old self but his successful return has not hidden other warts that keep emerging within this group.
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