When Kristaps Porzingis emerged from the Boston Celtics’ tunnel to shoot two flagrant free throws with 55 seconds remaining in the third quarter of Game 2, the TD Garden crowd went berserk. Moments earlier, Orlando Magic center Goga Bitadze sent the big man crashing to the parquet with an elbow to the forehead.
Porzingis headed to the locker room with blood pouring out of the wound and a smile on his face.
“This one was just a quick flash, a quick cut,” he explained postgame. “But I saw the amount of blood as soon as I looked at my head, so I knew it was going to be (a few) stitches, for sure.”
“I like watching him bleed on the court,” joked head coach Joe Mazzulla following the 109-100 victory on Wednesday night. “I think that’s important.”
The images of Porzingis’ bandaged forehead are what most fans will remember when they think about this game, but his overall performance was just as important as the bleeding.
On a night when Jayson Tatum was sidelined with a bone bruise to his shooting wrist, Boston needed the rest of their starters to play with intensity. The big Latvian made it clear that he was out for blood, right from the opening tip. Within the first four minutes, he had already logged a block, a steal, and two offensive rebounds.
Now, I don’t want to take away from Porzingis’ everyday work ethic, but this was just different. There’s something special about seeing a seven-foot-three guy scrambling for loose balls and offensive rebounds.
This was more than just a hustle game for KP, it was one where he embraced the physicality that Orlando had made him uncomfortable with in Sunday’s series opener. He took advantage of the increased volume in post-up opportunities, forced the issue, and fought his way to the charity stripe.
Porzingis finished with 14 free-throw attempts, two fewer than his career high. His continued aggression provided the Celtics with a needed offensive boost without Tatum.
“Yeah, just (being) more aggressive, more more more fighting in the post against smaller and smaller guards,” he said of his mindset. “Even there are some of the bigger players, just (playing) big, ultra-aggressive in the post, and on offensive rebounds.”
His ultra-aggressive playstyle paved the way for a double-double performance, despite KP’s admitted offensive shortcomings (5-14 from the field).
“My shot still (feels) rushed, maybe a few shots (were),” he continued. “Still, I feel like I can, have a much, much higher level to play offensively, especially, (when) I missed a lot of free throws. I missed a lot of stuff, you know. So I expect myself to be a lot better offensively. I think defensively, I’m doing well.”
He ended the night with 20 points, 10 rebounds, two steals, and two blocks, making his presence felt without being up to his own shot-making standards.
As for Orlando’s physicality, it doesn’t seem to be something that Kristaps, or his Celtics teammates, will let bother them for the remainder of this series.
“I mean, we’re gonna be us, you know, we not gonna let anybody like punk us. And you we expect teams to be doing this kind of stuff to get in our heads, to try to provoke us, to try to get some reaction out of us, some technical, maybe something. It’s an emotional game, obviously, so we weren’t surprised. But you know, we’re not gonna take it (and) them right back.”
