There are a lot of reasons why the Celtics are as good as they are, but somewhere near the top of that list is the guy who typically stands out no matter what.
Kristaps Porzingis, who is often seen walking into or around a gym with a coffee in hand, gives Boston an unmistakable and unique jolt. Derrick White is still the team’s on/off God, but there's something different about Porzingis.
“He’s unreal,” White said after the game. “Matchup nightmare, protecting the paint for us. He does a little bit of everything for us.”
Brad Stevens built this Celtics team to be versatile. They can play small and run past the Orlando Magic. They can play big when they need to and shut down the paint. They can withstand the absences of certain players.
But the loss of either White or Porzingis is when it feels Boston is hit hardest. White provides a comfort level knowing he can do a bit of everything. Without Jayson Tatum, White knew he had to score more and he put up 28. That comes off a 30 point night where White tried to make up for Porzingis sitting the front end of a back-to-back.
It’s impossible to make up for Porzingis being out, though. The matchup is just too unique, and what it forces the other team to do can be especially disruptive to their game plan. He rendered Kevin Huerter unplayable early in the third quarter after attacking him twice.
Porzingis gives White a pitch-back and Huerter goes under the screen untouched. Porzingis flows into a pick-and-roll with White and that switch immediately triggers a Porzingis high-post against Huerter. Porzingis uses a spin move to get the open jumper and even though he lands on Domantas Sabonis’ foot and turns his ankle, he was fine to stay in the game.
Porzingis processes these perimeter actions very quickly, and is quick enough to turn and flow into the next action with complete ease. Al Horford has the processing power to handle this, but he isn’t quick enough to do this stuff anymore. Luke Kornet has some quickness in these kinds of spots, but he doesn’t have Porzingis’ processing power. And he certainly doesn’t have the kind of shooting touch to get shots like this off to have a chance to fall.
When the defense crowded the paint, Porzingis simply floated out to the 3-point line and hit three of the four shots he took.
Porzingis is doing exactly what he was brought in to do. He’s posting up nearly 15% of the time and is averaging 1.38 points per possession on those. That's the highest PPP of anyone posting in the double-digit percent range. That's the best scoring mark of his career on post ups.
According to CleaningTheGlass, Porzingis is one of five players with positive on/off numbers for Boston (White is a ridiculous +12.1. Porzingis is second at +1.6. Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser, and Jrue Holiday are also positives). Boston’s usual starting lineup with Porzingis at center is +20.7, second only to Philadelphia’s starting lineup.
Defensively, his quickness helps him maximize his height advantage, which shines on plays like this.
He challenged Malik Monk’s drive to help Jaylen Brown. Monk made a nice read and Sabonis made a nice cut. But Porzingis was there for the blocked shot. He doesn’t block it if he’s not as quick as he is, nor if he isn’t as tall.
Boston won the third quarter by 15. Porzingis scored 14 and prevented six, a 20 point swing on his own. He was single handedly responsible for building the big lead heading into the fourth quarter.
This is the Porzingis effect. He’s getting shots in an area where he’s able to score at a very high rate on plays that are typically inefficient. After the Warriors game, I talked about how the fourth quarter is about making buckets. Porzingis is uniquely able to get the kinds of shots Boston needed against the Warriors, and will need in the playoffs.
When the Celtics needed a boost to start the third quarter in Sacramento, it was Porzingis who provided the spark with those exact shots.
We all love what White is doing, but he’s just playing insanely high-level ball. He’s not overpowering anyone. Porzingis is.
Every little tweak of an ankle or mention of his calf strain can trigger anxiety in Celtics fans because everyone knows that his missing time leaves a massive hole in the Celtics lineup. The Celtics need to protect him at all costs, always choosing caution over pushing it in the regular season.
He’s a walking adjustment, always there to get into a spot to spring a teammate or himself for a bucket. The Celtics road to a championship requires Porzingis to stay healthy. Against a good Kings team, he was unleashed for a stretch that shows he’s too big of a problem to other teams for Boston to push him too hard whenever he’s not 100%. It’s just not worth it.
