BOSTON – The wink said it all.
No one truly knew what to expect from Kristaps Porzingis.
Returning to the lineup for the first time in 38 days after injuring his right calf in the opening playoff series against Miami, there was some mystery surrounding how he would play.
The Celtics center certainly didn’t let on in the lead-up to the game. If anything, he cast a shadow of doubt.
Before long, Porzingis let everyone in on how he was feeling, first with his inspired play coming off the bench, then with the blink of his eye.
After draining a 3-pointer over Luka Doncic with 1:09 to go in the first quarter, Porzingis turned to the Celtics bench, and with an impish grin on his face, flashed a wink.
It was like a neon sign. All was good with No. 8.
Porzingis had sounded hesitant about his readiness and fitness to hold up in a game. He entered with 7:17 left in the opening quarter and was greeted by thunderous applause from the TD Garden faithful. He played like he never left as the Celtics recorded a 107-89 victory in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
With the crowd roaring with his every move, Porzingis set the tone for the Celtics in the first half.
Wearing a white compression sleeve on his right leg, there was little to no sign Porzingis was coming off an injury. There wasn’t the slightest hint of a limp, and his game showed no rust. His 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting in the first half lifted the Celtics to a huge lead, and pretty much sunk the Mavericks.
While he tired in the fourth quarter, the damage had already been done.
Even if Porzingis was being a little coy ahead of his return, no one could have predicted anything remotely close to the 20-point, 6-rebound, 3-blocked shot effort he produced in 21 minutes on the floor. Only Jaylen Brown (22 points) scored more for the Celtics.
Porzingis had a huge impact. For him, every moment was a highlight and victory given the injury he had suffered. All of the hard work and rehab was worth it to experience his first NBA Finals.
Whether hitting his jumpers, rebounding, blocking shots, or throwing down a thunderous dunk, he seemed to be having a great time inflicting pain on the Mavericks, one of his former teams.
“You know, even when that first quarter when I checked in and started things going my way and stuff, I didn’t even think about it,” Porzingis said when asked if there was a moment when he knew he was fine and the doubts left. “I was so in the moment and enjoying the moment and the crowd and everything, you know.
” 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 and, yeah, and I hope to have more of those moments going forward.”
Jaylen Brown said he knew Porzingis was fine after that first three-pointer, because the 7-foot-2 center went on a tear blocking two shots, grabbing rebounds and hitting buckets from all over the lot.
“He just went on a run where he just, he hit the three, hit the middy, then ran back, got the block at the rim in transition,” Brown said. “He was just making play after play and it was just like, all right, he’s back, there was no question about it then. We need some more of that have going forward for the rest of this series.”
Porzingis was a presence as a rim protector. He was a presence shooting jumpers, and forcing the Mavs big men to come out to defend him.
Basically, he was the Mavericks worst nightmare in Game 1.
“KP was great, he knocked down shots. He changed shots. He blocked shots. He gave them a spark when he came off the bench,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said. “We’ve just got to make it a little bit tougher on the offensive end. We’ve got to make him do something different. He got great looks and knocked them down.”
It was a bit stunning to see him come out of the gate, shoot the lights out, and take no prisoners after so much time away. While the Celtics survived two playoff series without him, handily taking down both the Cavaliers and Pacers, they need him to finish the job and slay the Mavericks.
He’s that added layer of insurance. Along with Jrue Holiday, Porzingis was the piece that was added to put the Celtics over the top.
“You always want to have your team at full strength. We’re a good team when guys are down, but we’re really, really special when we have everybody,” Celtics star Jayson Tatum said when asked about Porzingis’ impact following the win. “I said it earlier, how seamless his transition was after being away for six, seven weeks, and coming into the game and having a first half like that, that was a big spark for us to start the game.”
It was the type of spark that spelled doom for Dallas in Game 1. If Porzingis plays like that the rest of the way, the Mavericks are in big trouble.
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