Kristaps Porzingis’ return is approaching per i Boston Celtics? So it would seem. The news was broken by Chris Forsberg of NBC News, who explains how the Latvian winger’s return would be close. Porzingis, the 2024 NBA champion, has not played an official match since Game 5 of the last NBA Finals.
Having won the championship, the Latvian then underwent surgery with the franchise which gave a recovery time of 5-6 months. So here’s that coach Joe Mazzulla he is close to having a very important player back at his disposal.
Forsberg himself explains the situation better: “Porzingis is close to returning. I’ve been saying this for a while: What he’s doing in warmups is very similar to what we saw during the playoffs and maybe even a step further than when he reached enough physical shape to take the field against Dallas for a game.”
The journalist highlights how there are similarities between Porzingis’ rehabilitation work in the playoffs and his work on the field now. This could mean that the Latvian is not too far away from a return. Forsberg spiega: “It’s easy to forget that as good as the Celtics have been, they’re getting a player who makes them completely different. So when I saw him on the loose court, smiling as always, with a dunk as he left the court, it was a good sign that the return is coming.”
Meanwhile, the Celtics don’t need to force the Latvian back onto the field. The record of the boys coached by Mazzulla is 10-3 and they finished with a record of 10-2 in his absence last postseason. The point, as said, is that Porzingis completely changes the defensive balance of the C’scurrently in eighth place in defensive rating (110.0 points conceded in 100 possessions). Only 32.8 rebounds are taken per game and 51.2 points are conceded to opponents in the paint (twenty-second worst figure in the league).
