Even if they have just had a complicated evening, marked by their complacency which led to a defeat at home against the Lakers deprived of LeBron James and Anthony Davis, the Celtics remain the best team in the league. The strongest and most consistent. Notably because the arrival of Kristaps Porzingis changes a lot of things.
We saw it recently against the Heat: the Latvian is a massive solution weapon for Boston. He presents a profile that the 2022 finalists did not have in recent years.
“We had difficulties last season against Miami because, when they changed on defense, we had no one to give the ball to to take advantage of these changes,” analysis Jayson Tatum. “They took advantage of that and Kristaps Porzingis is a perfect answer. If we put a big one on him, he's probably too slow to contain it. If we put a smaller one, he can shoot above because he is 2m18. »
To sum up, “he takes advantage of what the defense opposes to him. He knows his positions, he knows how to be effective. He's a very intelligent player.”explains the Boston All-Star.
The missing piece to the title
All-Star in New York in 2018 (he did not play the all-star game due to a cruciate ligament injury) or author of a season averaging 23.2 points in Washington in 2022/23, is it really surprising to see Kristaps Porzingis at this level?
“He surprised me, in the sense that I didn’t really know him”replies Tatum. “I only knew him from the matches I played against him. But it lives up to expectations. »
Because by landing in Massachusetts, the Latvian arrives to take the Celtics to a new level. The last one, the one in the title. “Since day one, I've had the same message for the guys: I'm here to help win the title. That’s what I’m here for and I’m going to do what’s necessary,” announces the former Mavericks.
An image then appeared in Jayson Tatum's head. As a big fan of Kobe Bryant, he thinks of the transfer of Pau Gasol, on February 1, 2008, from Memphis to Los Angeles, which allowed the Lakers to return to the top and win two rings, in 2009 and 2010.
“Kobe really needed Pau to win the two titles they won together,” insists the Celtics winger. “Whatever path I or the group takes, Kristaps Porzingis looks like the missing piece. »
| Shots | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Party | Pts |
| Jayson Tatum | 45 | 35.8 | 47.3 | 36.3 | 81.3 | 0.9 | 7.6 | 8.4 | 4.5 | 2.6 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 2.0 | 26.9 |
| Jaylen Brown | 45 | 33.3 | 49.4 | 35.2 | 72.7 | 1.0 | 4.3 | 5.4 | 3.7 | 2.4 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 2.6 | 22.6 |
| Kristaps Porzingis | 34 | 29.8 | 52.1 | 35.8 | 83.9 | 1.7 | 5.2 | 6.9 | 2.0 | 1.6 | 0.6 | 1.8 | 2.9 | 19.4 |
| Derrick White | 44 | 32.1 | 45.8 | 40.0 | 89.5 | 0.7 | 3.3 | 4.0 | 4.7 | 1.6 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 2.2 | 15.8 |
| Jrue Holiday | 44 | 33.6 | 46.5 | 42.8 | 82.8 | 1.4 | 4.6 | 6.0 | 4.5 | 1.9 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 1.6 | 13.4 |
| Sam Hauser | 47 | 21.6 | 44.4 | 41.2 | 84.6 | 0.7 | 2.8 | 3.4 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 8.1 |
| Payton Pritchard | 48 | 21.0 | 42.3 | 37.7 | 79.4 | 0.9 | 2.3 | 3.2 | 2.9 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 1.3 | 7.8 |
| Al Horford | 39 | 27.1 | 48.3 | 41.3 | 85.7 | 1.3 | 5.5 | 6.8 | 2.9 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 1.6 | 7.7 |
| Luke Kornett | 33 | 15.1 | 68.5 | 0.0 | 89.7 | 1.8 | 2.0 | 3.9 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 1.0 | 1.4 | 5.3 |
| Neemias Queta | 20 | 12.4 | 58.5 | 0.0 | 73.7 | 1.7 | 2.5 | 4.2 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 2.0 | 4.5 |
| Oshae Brissett | 30 | 11.7 | 46.6 | 28.6 | 67.5 | 1.1 | 2.0 | 3.1 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 1.2 | 4.0 |
| Drew Peterson | 1 | 2.6 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 3.0 |
| Lamar Stevens | 18 | 6.4 | 46.3 | 28.6 | 72.7 | 0.6 | 1.0 | 1.6 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 2.7 |
| Svi Mykhailiuk | 21 | 7.7 | 32.8 | 29.8 | 50.0 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 2.6 |
| Dalano Banton | 22 | 7.4 | 40.4 | 14.3 | 77.8 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 2.5 |
| Jd Davison | 2 | 2.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 |
| Jordan Walsh | 2 | 3.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
