BOSTON — There were still injury questions floating around as the Celtics wrapped up their regular season campaign on Sunday but none about the player most would have expected before the season. Instead, a healthy Kristaps Porzingis watched Boston close out the regular season with the win over the Hornets on the bench alongside his starter teammates Sunday afternoon.
The big man was huge question mark entering this year coming off of leg surgery that postponed his season debut until November. The team started slow amid his initial return to the floor but Porzingis has been arguably the most consistent member of the roster besides Jayson Tatum since the calendar turned to 2025. He’s also put up some of the best numbers of his career, shooting 41.2 percent from 3-point range while turning the ball over a career-low 1.3 times per game.
Perhaps most importantly, Porzingis did not miss a game for a leg injury issue at any point over the past three months. He appeared in 42 games (all starts) and played just about the same workload as last year, averaging 28.8 minutes per game. He had a few ankle injuries upon his initial return but it’s been smooth sailing from there for his legs.
There were some notable absences on the calendar in the past few months but none were connected to his offseason surgery. Porzingis sat out a seven-game stretch due to illness in March but all of his other scratches came simply for rest reasons due to a back-to-back or a strategic day off. That’s a very promising sign for a player coming off a surgery who has struggled to sustain prolonged healthy stretches throughout his career.
Porzingis wasn’t just a bystander on the floor either, he was instrumental in helping the Celtics put together 61 wins with a dominant final three months of the regular season.
“It’s a testament to the guys, really, in the locker room,” Joe Mazzula said of Bostons’ 61-21 record. “Just their competitive nature, their mentality, the ability to handle good times and not-so-good times, and the standard that they hold themselves to. So it goes back to the duality, right? It’s what we did is great, and now it doesn’t matter, because we have to continue the journey, but it starts with those guys in the locker room.”
The tougher test now starts for Porzingis who still has never played more than seven games in a single postseason throughout his nine-year NBA career. The need for the big man’s contributions could also grow depending on the status of Jaylen Brown’s knee. The All-Star received a pain injection for a bone bruise earlier this week but is expected to be ready for Game 1.
The road is almost guaranteed to be tougher for Boston this time around in the postseason with improved opposition around the league in their quest to repeat. However, the Celtics themselves may also be better this time around and a big part of that will be Porzingis. If he can stay on the floor, Boston should be able to play short series in the first two rounds and maintain their energy for the East Finals and beyond.
The road to repeating starts at TD Garden next weekend but Porzingis looks primed to make a more meaningful imprint on this title run and the timing couldn’t be better for a team set to face off with some historic challengers at their crown.
