While the evening was going perfectly in Miami, the Boston fans had a little scare in the third quarter. Kristaps Porzingis collapses after twisting his left ankle. He will not return from the meeting.
But don't panic, his sprain is not serious. “I defended a shot from Bam Adebayo and I landed on his foot. I twisted my ankle “, says the Latvian. ” It does not matter. It hurt at the time, but I feel better now. »
The Celtics can therefore breathe. Before that, they didn't tremble when the interior left the floor because they had crushed the Heat with their attack and the end of the game went off without a hitch. And if Boston enjoyed so much, it is thanks in particular to Kristaps Porzingis.
It was he, with his 14 points, who launched the Celts in the first quarter. The former Knicks player finished with 19 points in 20 minutes, shooting 6/9 including a perfect 3/3 from 3-point range. The Floridians never found the solution to limit it, nor to slow down the Celtics, who scored 143 points.
“They did several things but they had difficulty stopping us. No matter what they tried, we had an answer. I think that’s what I can bring to this team,” he analyzes. “When they want to change, we take advantage of it and I was able to get the ball out when I was stuck with two, and we had open shots. I played my game and had open shots from Derrick White, Jaylen Brown or Jayson Tatum. We have a lot of weapons and when things go well, we're really hard to stop. »
A threat within and without
Jimmy Butler, for example, found himself twice on “KP” in the first quarter. Taking advantage of his size, the latter made two baskets from mid-distance. Later, the zone defense failed to slow down the Celtics' team play.
” It is enormous “, judge Jaylen Brown on his teammate's impact. “We don’t see it every night, but on evenings like this, we see it more clearly. In the first period, he only took nine shots and scored 19 points. He's a threat, teams need to respect him at 3-point and, with his size, near the rim. Knowing that we have such a presence near the basket, it allows all the other players to have freedom. »
More fluid and a better shooter than Al Horford and much more offensive and talented than Robert Williams III, Kristaps Porzingis can become a weapon of mass destruction for Boston in the event of a new playoff series against Miami. As a reminder, over the last four seasons, there have been three conference finals between the two teams (2020, 2022 and 2023).
“He makes it very difficult for us to play offensively,” summarizes Jayson Tatum. “Having a player of this size who can shoot offers advantages in duels. The defense must make choices. If she changes and puts on a small one, we can serve it. If she gives him space from afar, he can hit 3-pointers. With him, we impose several challenges on the other teams. »
| Kristaps Porzingis | Percentage | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Party | Int | Bp | Ct | Pts |
| 2015-16 | NYK | 72 | 28 | 42.1 | 33.3 | 83.8 | 1.8 | 5.5 | 7.3 | 1.3 | 2.9 | 0.7 | 1.7 | 1.9 | 14.3 |
| 2016-17 | NYK | 66 | 33 | 45.0 | 35.7 | 78.6 | 1.7 | 5.5 | 7.2 | 1.5 | 3.7 | 0.7 | 1.8 | 2.0 | 18.1 |
| 2017-18 | NYK | 48 | 32 | 43.9 | 39.5 | 79.3 | 1.3 | 5.3 | 6.6 | 1.2 | 2.9 | 0.8 | 1.9 | 2.4 | 22.7 |
| 2019-20 | DAL | 57 | 32 | 42.7 | 35.2 | 79.9 | 1.8 | 7.7 | 9.5 | 1.8 | 3.3 | 0.7 | 1.6 | 2.0 | 20.4 |
| 2020-21 | DAL | 43 | 31 | 47.6 | 37.6 | 85.5 | 1.9 | 7.0 | 8.9 | 1.6 | 2.7 | 0.5 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 20.1 |
| 2021-22 * | All Teams | 51 | 29 | 45.9 | 31.0 | 86.7 | 2.0 | 6.1 | 8.1 | 2.3 | 2.7 | 0.7 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 20.2 |
| 2021-22 * | DAL | 34 | 30 | 45.1 | 28.3 | 86.5 | 1.9 | 5.8 | 7.7 | 2.0 | 2.6 | 0.7 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 19.2 |
| 2021-22 * | W.A.S. | 17 | 28 | 47.5 | 36.7 | 87.1 | 2.2 | 6.6 | 8.8 | 2.9 | 2.9 | 0.7 | 1.7 | 1.5 | 22.1 |
| 2022-23 | W.A.S. | 65 | 33 | 49.8 | 38.5 | 85.1 | 1.8 | 6.7 | 8.4 | 2.7 | 3.0 | 0.9 | 2.1 | 1.5 | 23.2 |
| 2023-24 | BOS | 32 | 30 | 52.5 | 35.0 | 83.7 | 1.7 | 5.2 | 6.8 | 2.0 | 2.9 | 0.7 | 1.6 | 1.9 | 19.5 |
| Total | 434 | 31 | 45.7 | 35.8 | 82.8 | 1.7 | 6.1 | 7.9 | 1.8 | 3.0 | 0.7 | 1.7 | 1.8 | 19.6 | |
How to read the stats? MJ = matches played; Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def=defensive rebound; Tot = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; Pts = Points.
