BOSTON — Kristaps Porziņģis sat at his locker with a sour face after the Toronto game. Five nights before, he stressed the Celtics would get it right. Slip-ups happen, he said after Boston lost to the Kings, but it’s not like they’re not trying.
He felt differently north of the border, as much confused as frustrated. Porziņģis said the team’s 110-97 loss to the Raptors lacked spirit and personality. At times, the Celtics strolled up and down the floor, he noticed. It was the most pointed public criticism of the team’s performance from within this season. And it seemed to resonate. Boston responded with a 121-94 win over the Magic at home in the following game, and while their inconsistency continued through this week, Porziņģis’ point in LA about the team going in the right direction, even after a blowout loss, came off as candid. He’s spoken his mind all year — good and bad.
“We’re a team that’s very experienced,” Porziņģis said on Wednesday morning, asked by CLNS if his voice has grown into 2024-25. “These guys have been to the playoffs many times, they’ve been together for a long time and there’s not a lot to say, honestly. When you’re a young team and you have younger guys, there’s a lot for them to learn … there’s much more to say. Here on this team, as I came in, I was like, ‘these guys know how to play basketball.’ So there’s no reason to force it, but it’s true that also sometimes we lack communication as a team and we need to talk more.”
Joe Mazzulla, not sure if Porziņģis’ comments meant on or off the floor, received them well considering the amount of defensive slip-ups stacking up for Boston after a night that defined their season of living with poor shooters going off. Porziņģis echoed that statement by his teammates on Wednesday, willing to agree with the decision to allow Dillon Brooks 10-for-15 three point shooting. He saw the Boston Herald’s tweet about various players having career nights against the Celtics this year. He has also been having one of the months of his career.
Porziņģis, becoming more central to their offensive game plan as much as their vocal statesman in the media, went off for 26 first half points on Wednesday against the Bulls to vault them ahead by 16 points at halftime. He hit back-to-back threes at the end of the second quarter to improve to 6-for-8 in the game and 52.2% from three in January. The Celtics won, 122-100.
Derrick White tossed Porziņģis an alley-oop from above the break plays earlier that he rolled in above the rim with one hand. Yet the momentary defensive lapses continued when the Bulls scored on seven of their last 10 possessions to end the second. Mazzulla and assistant Tony Dobbins screamed from the sideline as Chicago threw a baseline in-bounds to Coby White, who hit a three uncovered in the corner.
“That part we can improve for sure,” Porziņģis said. “We have a pretty chill and relaxed locker room, but sometimes we need (to) be more vocal as a group. I think we’re getting better at that this season. As I said, there’s no reason to force it. If there’s something to say, we have to say it. That’s all it is. And just not be afraid. If we need to call each other out, whatever it is that we have to say, we have to say it. That’s how we get better, that’s how we actually have each other’s back.”
While Porziņģis emerged as the game-changing player he joined the team as last regular season, the impact didn’t immediately translate to Boston’s starting lineup or overall success with him on the floor. They’ve endured their worst month of the season while he’s played his best. The starters posted a -1.7 net rating through their first 14 games and 208 minutes together, though it’s climbed recently from lower depths.
Entering Wednesday, the Celtics’ net rating was 10.3 points worse per 100 possessions with him on the floor compared to off, with the defense playing worse in particular. He even admitted his return, and subsequent injuries, might’ve thrown things off. They’re 17-12 since.
“I think it’s just part of the learning process, when you go through games with different lineups,” Mazzulla said on Monday. “And then you get a talent like that. We have to adjust to the matchups and the way teams defend us. Teams defend you differently when you have different lineups out there. So I think it just takes time to build the habits and the disciplines and the reads when they’re out there together. So it just takes time … he has an innate ability to play versus all matchups as compared to some of our other fives are better versus certain matchups … I think he’s done a great job of adjusting to that depending upon who’s on him and the type of screens that he has and what the spacing looks like. All that stuff … takes time.”
Some statistical noise and a small sample size undoubtedly cloud the real impact Porziņģis’ return provided. They are a different team. The Celtics rarely played as over the summer on their way to a championship. Boston benefited from Porziņģis’ iconic Game 1 outburst and a gutsy Game 5 effort, but both came off the bench. His return helped clean up some rim protection issues, though at the cost of giving up more threes.
His sizable emergence on the offensive end, while welcome, also raised some questions about shot distribution for the team. The Celtics’ switch back toward a first quarter rotation geared toward getting Jaylen Brown going since the Orlando game on Jan. 17 left Jayson Tatum with a limited role in the offense early. That further became the case over the last two games as the Rockets and Bulls aggressively trapped Tatum, freeing Porziņģis and others, but mostly taking Tatum out of the rotation game. They look like they’re still figuring where and when they want their shots to come from, focusing on matchup-hunting.
Without the possession advantage in some games recently, it’s left a smaller pie. Porziņģis and Brown ate against the Bulls, combining for 62 points, while Tatum shot 5-for-15 and mostly passed out of double-teams. A winning formula Mazzulla will accept when teams give them it.
Porziņģis called the Celtics a lion for much of last year that’s played like a house cat at times into 2025. On Wednesday, they returned closer to the former. Another sharp line.
“That’s what I’d love to see,” Brown said. “I would love for KP to be more vocal, speak more. I’ll try to empower that as much as we possibly can. But when KP’s communicating, and everything’s clear on offense and defense, I think we’re better for it. I encourage it and we give him all that space to do it. KP’s important to our team so him taking more of a leadership is excellent.”
- Al Horford (toe) and Sam Hauser (hip) missed their second consecutive games after Boston scratched Horford shortly before Monday’s loss. Tatum (knee) played 31 minutes after entering the game questionable.
- Zach LaVine missed the game for personal reasons after leading Chicago to a win in their last visit to Boston.
- Jaden Springer, who talked to the Boston Herald about ongoing trade rumors this morning, one week prior to the trade deadline, played rotation minutes for the second time over the last five games. He stole a pass seconds into his first stint and split a pair of three-point tries. Springer finished with four points, five rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block in 20 minutes.
