Final: Celtics 126, Clippers 94 - Celtics dominate in Kristaps Porzingis' return

BOSTON CELTICS (14-3) vs LA CLIPPERS (11-7)

TD Garden, 7:30 p.m. - NBCS Boston

Line: Boston -11.5

INJURIES

Boston: Kristaps Porzingis (PROBABLE, ankle), Luke Kornet (DOUBTFUL, hamstring tightness), Al Horford (DOUBTFUL, illness)

LA: Kawhi Leonard (OUT, knee), PJ Tucker (OUT, not with team), Norm Powell (DOUBTFUL, hamstring)

THINGS I’M LOOKING FOR

1. PORZINGIS RETURNS!: Surprise! I thought this might be possible next week, but he’s always characterized his recovery as going very well. The recent practice with the Maine Celtics seemed to go very well, too, so the Celtics are ready to bring him back. 

I think we should be clear that this is still part of his rehabilitation. He’s probably going to be on a strict minutes restriction for a while as he works his way back, and you can expect him to at least miss back-to-backs, maybe more, as he works through whatever soreness he experiences. 

Still, this is great timing for his return because it gives him a solid month of slowly working his way back into games before we get to the Christmas milestone where the NBA season really starts to take off. This is the time to work out some of the bumps in the road and make sure he’s fully recovered before getting him all the way up to full minutes. 

It’s also great timing because Boston has three days off after this game to reevaluate how he responds. They are about to start a stretch of six games in nine nights, so the extra body is going to be useful as well, even if his minutes are limited. 

2. New rotations: Horford probably won’t play, so we won’t get the full experience yet, but I’m curious to see what pairings Joe Mazzulla throws out there with Porzingis. Is he going to lean on the chemistry with Jaylen Brown like we saw last season, or will he try something different? Also, will he stagger the minutes so Porzingis is part of the closing lineup, or will they just go with him at the starts of halves so he’s warmed up to start? 

3. Defensive improvements: Let’s watch the defense closely with Porzingis back. I want to see how much he’s challenged versus how much he scares guards into changing course. I’ve been saying that his return will have a positive ripple effect on the defense, so I want to see how quickly that happens. 

4. Porzingis’ excitement level: $5 says he misses his first shot long because he’s so amped up. I wouldn’t be surprised if he bites on a fake or commits an early foul, either. I think he’s going to be so amped, probably because the crowd is going to lose its mind, that he’ll need time to settle into the game. I bet he’ll need an early sub, too, because he’ll be going full bore in an NBA game for the first time since June. He’ll be out of breath in a hurry, so that first stint might be interesting and, maybe, not indicative of how the rest of his rehab will go.

Follow along with my thoughts as the game goes on. They’ll show up below and in the comments section, so hop in and share your opinion as well.