2024 NBA Finals: Kristaps Porziņģis lifts Celtics in return, reminding Boston of what it’s missing

BOSTON — Kristaps Porziņģis ripped off his “Walton” jersey to a standing ovation as he played for the first time in a month — and then proceeded to play like the missing piece in the Celtics’ penultimate championship.

Players from the Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks honored late NBA great Bill Walton by wearing a jersey with his name on it to kick off the NBA Finals, and Porziņģis, perhaps unknowingly, evoked the best possible tribute to the fan favorite.

Not only did he set the tone, but everything he did was loud as the Celtics struck first in this best-of-seven series and sent a resounding message in Game 1 with a 107-89 victory at TD Garden.

Loud was the theme — like Walton’s unmistakable laugh, like Jaylen Brown’s tireless defense of Luka Dončić, like the Celtics fans becoming filled with rage every time Kyrie Irving touched the ball.

But it is Porziņģis who completes this team, whether as a starter, as he has been throughout his career, or as a substitute, as has happened for only the second time in his nine-year career. The parallels are almost too delicious for the Celtics fan base, as the team honored Walton before the game by showing off his family in a luxurious box. Walton was the missing piece to the 1985-86 team, arguably the best of the Larry Bird era. Plagued by injuries after such a promising start to his career, which featured a championship and an MVP, Walton simply needed to be a complementary piece to the legendary front line of Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish.

In short, Walton would have carried Bird’s bags if Bird had demanded it, but his passing, rebounding and activity did wonders.

For Porziņģis, his highs haven’t touched the sky like Walton’s in his heyday, but he’s found the perfect place in Boston – the 3-point-happy lineup leaves plenty of room for him to operate deep or on the free throw line-up against smaller defenders. , and its individual swarm defense funnels unsuspecting drivers off the highway and into a brick wall on the edge.

He touched everyone in the first quarter, turning the game into a rout before the horn sounded. It was hard to believe he seemed unsure about how well he would play after suffering a calf injury in the first round against the Miami Heat, and he wasn’t playing like a skunk.

Twenty points and six rebounds later, even he couldn’t be pessimistic about himself anymore.

“Yeah, I think obviously what helped me was going out before the game and then getting on the court, getting that kind of support was unreal,” Porziņģis said. “Adrenaline was coursing through my veins and that definitely helped. Obviously it wasn’t ideal being away for so long, but I did everything I could to mentally prepare myself for this moment back and it was worth it.”

Brown has been one of his biggest supporters and saw Porziņģis back in full swing before Porziņģis even knew it.

“Was it in the first or second trimester? He just ran out and hit the three, hit the middle, then ran back, hit the block at the rim in transition,” Brown said. “He was just making play after play and it was like, okay, he’s back, there was no doubt about it then.”

The Celtics struggling against short-handed teams throughout their season allowed Porziņģis to sit until he was fully healthy, and now Vultron is formed. Brown led the Celtics with 22 points, six rebounds, three blocks and three steals. Jayson Tatum scored 19, 11 rebounds and five assists.

Ideally, the presence of Porziņģis, along with Jrue Holiday and Derrick White, will prevent the two pillars from feeling like they have to score everyone.

Five-part harmony.

Even Mavericks coach Jason Kidd, who only coached Porziņģis for a year before he was traded, praised his skill set and almost seemed ready for what was to come.

“We’re a good team when the players are down, but we’re really, really special when we have everyone,” Tatum said. “I said this before, how smooth his transition was after being out for six, seven weeks, and coming into the game and having a first half like that, it was a big spark for us to start the game.”

Tatum admitted to being nervous before the game started, but said they were the good kind — like the first day of school, when you put your best clothes on the bed the night before and your sneakers are even cleaner because you want to impress everyone. around, to set the tone.

Tatum didn’t need to be the do-it-all type, although it’s likely that will be required of him before the end of the series. But it was Porziņģis who took center stage.

“I know the storyline is supposed to be, what’s he going to look like because he’s been out for a month, but that’s what he’s been doing his entire career,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. “He is a great player. He’s been great for us. The reason we are here is because of what he did. No matter how long he’s out, the guy is going to make plays because of the talent he has and the work he does.”

It’s the addition of Porziņģis and relative health that puts the Celtics in an almost unenviable position: just winning isn’t enough. They have to dominate and do it with style.

Any lull will be dissected completely. Maybe it’s playing for the Celtics that does that. Maybe I fell short, but I’ve been so close to tasting champagne in the last two years.

But it’s likely the presence of Porziņģis, who was rescued from the Bad News Bears in Washington after two years of anonymity. A great team became dominant and it was evident when the Celtics took a 29-point lead before halftime.

“I think you guys got a pretty good idea of ​​that throughout the season when we were healthy for most of it and how we played and how effective we were on both ends,” Tatum said. “KP was a big part of that and the success we had this season.”

Of course there were frustrating moments, stretches in which the Celtics got lost, were too happy with the 3 points and the Mavericks showed some value in this series, reducing the lead to eight at the beginning of the third quarter.

But the Celtics remembered quickly, closing down the lane where Dončić and Irving began planting some real estate and reestablished order with a 14-0 run. Dončić led all scorers with 30 points, but his only assist was the lowest mark of his playoff career – as the Mavericks went an anemic 3-for-15 from 3 off of Dončić’s production.

And it did nothing but force the Mavericks down the lane, where Porziņģis, Al Horford, Tatum and Brown were waiting. Porziņģis and Brown each had three blocks, with Brown hitting an Irving layup out of bounds, much to the delight of the still-salty Celtic fans upon Irving’s departure in 2019.

“Every game has its own story,” Brown said. “We just need to be ready, keep our composure and take it one game at a time.”

The story of this one was remembering the smiling redhead and squinting to see the similarities in the man lumbering down the sideline to applause that lifted him skyward.