Kristaps Porzingis’ spectacular return makes the Celtics “really, really special”

In the days leading up to Game 1 of the NBA Finals, speculation about Kristaps Porzingis’s injury status — and ability to contribute in the Finals – ran rampant.

How would he respond to such a lengthy postseason absence? Was his soleus strain really healed? Would the rust from six weeks sidelined be too much to shake off?

Those concerns were put to bed almost immediately. Kristaps Porzingis, coming off the bench for just the second time in his career, subbed in for Al Horford five minutes into the first quarter and immediately took over the game on both ends.

Just a few minutes after checking in, he scored 8 consecutive points – drawing a foul and hitting a pair of free throws, beating Dereck Lively II off the dribble for a thunderous dunk, and sinking two trademark mid-range shots.

“He was just making play after play and it was just like, ‘all right, he’s back,’” Jaylen Brown said. “There was no question about it then.”

He finished the night with 20 points – 18 of which came in a dominant first half – on 8-13 shooting, to go along with 6 rebounds and 3 blocks. By halftime, any fears of him not being himself were effectively squashed.

Defensively, the Mavericks had no answer for Porzingis. Lively, his primary defender, struggled to keep up with him, picking up five fouls in just 18 minutes of action. Offensively, everything was clicking – he hit 2 of 4 attempts from deep, and got to his midrange spots with ease.

“He’s a matchup nightmare,” Derrick White said. “Even when you play good defense, he doesn’t really see you. It’s been unreal just watching him all year.”

The spectacular return was rooted in a raucous welcome from the home crowd. The entire Celtics team took the court for warm-ups, but Kristaps Porzingis stayed back. Then, a few minutes later, he took the court to roaring applause, the entire city welcoming him back.

“What helped me is just even from the walk out before the game and then getting on the court. Getting that kind of support was unreal,” Porzingis said. “The adrenaline was pumping through my veins and that definitely helped.”

In addition to re-acclimating to NBA basketball, Porzingis had to adjust to coming off the bench, something he’s only done once before as a professional. He made clear that Joe Mazzulla’s decision to continue starting Al Horford was one that didn’t bother him whatsoever.

“From day one I came here and I said like I’ll do whatever it takes to help this team win, right?” Porzingis said. “This situation, it made sense. I didn’t care. I didn’t care. I knew I could prepare to come off the bench, which is something different for me, and that’s what I did and stepped into that role and embraced it and had a good game.”

Porzingis said everything in the first quarter happened so fast he wasn’t even quite sure he knew what happened.

“When I checked in and things started going my way and stuff, I didn’t even think about it,” he said. “I was so in the moment and enjoying the moment and the crowd and everything. I don’t know, it’s kind of like a blur to me right now. I have to re-watch the game, what happened and stuff, but I was completely just in the game. That’s the best feeling. Like, I had the most fun.”

Earlier this week, Porzingis had spoken extensively about how difficult it was to miss so much time and not be able to contribute to the team’s on-court success. So, the debut going as smoothly as it did was a welcome sight for everyone around him, too.

“Nobody’s more proud and more excited for him than I am,” Jaylen Brown said.

The reality is that the Celtics probably could have won this game without Porzingis – they went 9-1 without him through this playoff run.

But the addition of Kristaps Porzingis brings them to another level.

“Tonight was an affirmation to myself that I’m pretty good, you know?” Porzingis said. “Maybe I’m not perfect, but I’m pretty good and I can play like this and I can definitely add to this team.”

Jayson Tatum said it best: “We’re a good team when guys are down, but we’re really, really special when we have everybody.”