(Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
The Boston Celtics didn’t seem to need Kristaps Porzingis to make the NBA Finals.
To be fair, they didn’t even seem to need him to dominate their way through the regular season.
That’s what happens when the rich get richer, and teams that were already solid and dominant make big moves to get even better.
But now that he’s back to full strength and ready to perform, we are able to get a glimpse of just how good this team is and how they were built to win the whole thing.
Porzingis excelled off the bench with 20 points, six rebounds, three blocks, and two three-pointers on 8-of-14 shooting and just 21 minutes.
And while no one was shocked to see the team being so much better with him on the court, he recently admitted that he did not expect himself to move so well in his return (via Rachel Nichols).
Kristaps Porzingis on Game 1: “I don’t think I even expected myself to be moving so well.”
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) June 8, 2024
The Latvian big man was out for roughly 40 days.
He suffered a calf injury in Game 4 of their first-round matchup vs. the Miami Heat, and the team decided to play it safe with him and his recovery.
Considering how tricky non-contact and soft-tissue injuries can be, that was the right call.
The Celtics are stacked, and their starting lineup has clicked and fired at on cylinders.
And with a guy like Porzingis coming off the bench, it’s hard to think of any team that could take them down in a seven-game series, even a team featuring the likes of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.
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