Celtics GM Provides Unexpected Clarity on Kristaps Porzingis' Early Return

Boston's starting center is back — ahead of schedule.

Nov 25, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis (8) defends against LA Clippers guard Amir Coffey (7) in the first quarter at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images / David Butler II-Imagn Images

Boston Celtics starting center Kristaps Porzingis returned surprisingly early from his offseason leg surgery, in a 126-94 blowout massacre of the L.A. Clippers on Monday.

During an interview with NBC Sports Boston (as transcribed by Zach Cox of The Boston Herald), Celtics team president Brad Stevens explained that he, too, was surprised at how quickly the veteran big man managed to return to the hardwood. All told, he missed just the Celtics' first 17 contests of the season.

Boston survived — and, heck, thrived — without their rim-rolling big man superstar. 38-year-old former five-time All-Star Al Horford suited up in Porzingis' stead for 14 contests, but has been out of late with an illness. He averaged 10.1 points on .495/.446/1.000 shooting splits, 5.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.9 blocks while starting for Porzingis. Boston went 14-3 without Porzingis, to boot.

“I don't think we realized (how quickly he'd be back) until we really got into camp, and then you started seeing him work,” Stevens said. “Then when we saw him in Abu Dhabi, the way he was moving and the way that he felt, it was a pretty good indication that he was going to be at the front end of that timeline.”

In his first game of the season, the 7-foot-2 former one-time All-Star scored 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field (1-of-6 from long range) and 3-of-4 shooting from the charity stripe, grabbed six rebounds, blocked two shots, dished out a pair of dimes, and snagged one steal.

“First of all, you have to re-ramp up,” Stevens said of Porzingis' recovery. “You have to go through every rehab step, then you also have to recondition to be able to play even a seven- or eight-minute stretch like he did (at the start of Monday’s game). That’s a pretty long a stretch for a guy first time back."

In anticipation of a comeback, Porzingis got some practice reps in with Boston's G League affiliate, the Maine Celtics, last week.

“But he’s been doing a lot. We assigned him to Maine last week," Stevens said. We actually brought the Maine team down to practice. So he played 32 minutes last Monday. He played 32 minutes again on Thursday in D.C. … in scrimmaging. And we knew he was going to be back (Monday) for the last week or so.”

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