The great and the dangerous vs. Celtics

SAN FRANCISCO – Kristaps Porzingis had the basketball in a vicegrip, his 7-foot-2 body towering over the pesky Payton Pritchard, who was equally in no temper to relinquish management. 

The Chase Middle crowd started to hum, then cheer, then roar as their new Warriors middle refused to again down from Boston’s flamethrowing guard late within the second quarter of the Warriors’ loss. 

It ended with the previous Celtic teammates being concerned in a bounce ball. 

“We have been already down massive, so I wasn’t in the perfect temper,” Porzingis mentioned. “Nevertheless it was a cool second although.”

Enjoying in his first recreation since being traded by the Hawks for Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield, the multi-skilled and considerably peeved Porzingis gave the Warriors lots to be excited – and anxious – about in 17 uneven minutes.

Porzingis scored 12 factors on 5 of 9 capturing, grabbed one rebound, dished out an help and turned the ball over twice. 

It was his first motion since early January, and simply the 18th recreation he has performed this season. Porzingis has handled postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) and quite a lot of accidents which have prevented him from enjoying in additional than 60 video games in six of the previous seven seasons. 

So rust was definitely a problem. 

His steps have been a smidge sluggish, the shot a tad flat and the rotations typically late. However Porzingis’ gravity as a scorer stayed unchanged, his presence on the rim nonetheless fearsome and the potential for extra remained.

It was not an ideal debut, however nonetheless one that ought to encourage the Warriors. 

“I assumed he regarded good,” Kerr mentioned. “You already know it’s by no means straightforward simply going to a brand new workforce, and having one observe, and enjoying. However you possibly can see his expertise, his really feel for the sport, his means to house the ground, defend the rim. It’s good to have him on our workforce, that’s for certain.”

The data that Porzingis would make his debut added some much-needed pleasure to a recreation that had a bit of its luster worn off by the data that Steph Curry would miss it with runner’s knee.

He even had a number of previous “pals” from Boston there to greet him in his new residence.

A wholesome contingent of travelling Boston media swarmed Porzingis at his new Warriors locker, which was located between Gui Santos and fellow former Boston middle Al Horford. Chatting with extra acquainted faces, the Warriors’ latest addition cracked a joke an hour earlier than tipoff. 

“They’re gonna have the proper scouting report on me, so let’s see how that goes,” Porzingis mentioned. 

Throughout warmups, a loosey-goosey Porzingis drew “ooohs” and “aaahs” as he took progressively longer photographs beneath the watchful eye of assistant coach Seth Cooper. 

It was an oft-interrupted routine, with previous Celtics teammates equivalent to Jaylen Brown and Derrick White popping over to say howdy. 

The Celtics’ familiarity – and Porzingis’ apparent rust after not enjoying since Jan. 7 – was straightforward to see early on. In seven first-half minutes, he was a minus-19 and was on the ground for the Celtics’ 17-2 run to start out the second quarter. 

The Chase Middle’s glitzy flooring would possibly as effectively have been quicksand. Jaylen Brown and Payton Pritchard made certain each possession examined Porzingis on the perimeter, the Celtics making three 3-pointers and roasting Porzingis on drives and cuts throughout that run. 

“It’s all the time bizarre coming again after some time,” Porzingis mentioned. “I’ve had ups and downs in my profession, and I’ve been out for a bit, and fairly good at leaping proper again in. Right now was the identical type of state of affairs I’ve been in my profession.”

The protection left a lot to be desired, however he flashed the type of isolation offense and floor-stretching capturing that had Kerr evaluating Porzingis to the injured Jimmy Butler as a one-on-one participant.