There were many questions when the Boston Celtics acquired Kristaps Porzingis — chief among them was how he would fare against the Miami Heat, i.e., the team that’s given Boston the most fits since the 2020s started.
During the regular season, Porzingis proved to be the player the Celtics had hoped for against Miami. They never succumbed to the Heat, and the Unicorn delivered exactly what the Celtics needed. In three games against the Heat, Porzingis averaged 20.3 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.3 threes while shooting 57.1% from the field and 50% from three-point range.
However, the NBA playoffs are always a different dynamic. As everyone knows, the Celtics are up 2-1 against the Heat. While Games 1 and 3 were wire-to-wire blowouts on Boston’s end, the Celtics’ offense outside of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown was blanketed by the Heat, coupled with unreal shooting from deep.
How has Porzingis performed thus far during the first-round series?
While the Heat likely would not have prevailed had they not collectively done their best Stephen Curry impression as a team, Porzingis’ performance definitely felt like it demanded more attention than it got. He easily had his worst performance as a Celtic, going 1-of-9 from the field with his only field goal being a putback dunk.
It was actually even worse than it initially seemed if you looked closer at Porzingis’ stats net-rating-wise:
Heat up 9, 100-91 with 5:03 left.
— Sean Grande (@SeanGrandePBP) April 25, 2024
Celtics in Game 2
Porzingis on the court: -33 (26 minutes)
Porzingis off the court: +24 (17 minutes)
In Game 3, Porzingis was more like himself. While he didn’t dominate the Heat per se (because he didn’t have to), he was far from the player who looked all out of sorts in Game 2 in Boston and looked much more like the cheat code that the Celtics brought him in to be — spacing the floor, finishing lobs, and most of all, holding his own on defense.
Perhaps most important of all is Porzingis keeping Bam Adebayo in check. Porzingis held the Heat star to 3-of-10 shooting from the field, per NBA.com.
While the odds of Porzingis having as bad of a game for the Celtics as he did in Game 2 are not likely, his performance through three games demonstrates that he is Boston's X-Factor. Porzingis will likely determine whether the Celtics win their 18th championship or go home empty-handed again in 2024. Tatum and Brown have proven that they can carry their weight in a playoff run, but the Celtics have shown as a unit that they need more than just those two to reach their final goal.
Even though they are undeniably shorthanded, the Heat have shown the Celtics yet again that they are not to be taken lightly in the playoffs, no matter who they have out on the court. The Celtics acquired Porzingis to help undo whatever basketball magic Erik Spoelstra cooked up against Boston.
While they acquired him for more reasons than to solely help them beat Miami, the pressure is on Porzingis to show that he was worth the investment, with Boston’s biggest rival as his first test.
