The Boston Celtics’ big man, Kristaps Porzingis, looked unstoppable on Friday night against his previous team, the Washington Wizards, in what appeared to be a revenge game for the Latvian. Just his second double-double of his career, Porzingis scored 34 points to help the Celtics defeat the Lakers 133-129.
Porzingis, who finished second on the team in scoring behind Jayson Tatum (35), made the most of a weak Washington defense, scoring 34 points on 9 of 18 shots from the field and going 2 of 4 from beyond the arc. He also had excellent performance from the charity stripe, making all 14 of his attempts, setting a new career high. With a game-high 11 rebounds, the 7-footer spearheaded Boston’s rebounding efforts in the triumph.
Abby Chin of NBC Sports Boston captured the action after the final bell.
To the question of whether he thought there was a mismatch that made his scoring run possible, Porzingis replied, “Yes, yes I did, and I wanted to make them pay.” “They just traded away their five [Daniel Gafford] and they don’t really have a big man, so those are the type of games that Joe [Mazzulla], Brad [Stevens], and the front office brought me here for, to punish those mismatches and create an advantage for us, so that’s what I did tonight.”
Against the 7-foot-2 Porzingis, none of Washington’s players stood a chance. Both 6-foot-9 players Deni Avdija and Kyle Kuzma, who were the tallest players on the Washington roster, were unable to stop their former teammate.
When asked if it was enjoyable to play against his former colleagues, Porzingis said, “Of course,” after being seen giggling with Avdija prior to the opening tip-off. “All the talk during pregame, as soon as the game started you talk a little bit back and forth with your ex-teammates, they know your game, you know their game — it’s always fun to play against former teammates and today was no different.”
Although it may have been good to get up with his old colleagues, there is surely no doubt that Porzingis is embracing his time in Boston. Every time Porzingis emerges from the tunnel for pregame warmups, he greets the supporters with a smile, a wave, a nod, or even a wink.
Since moving to Boston, it has become uncommon to see the big guy without a smile, and it’s easy to assume that the supporters feel the same way, since they adore every second he spends in green.
The Celtics finish their seven-game homestand at 5-2 and will head to South Beach to take on Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat on Sunday afternoon to kick off a short two-game road trip.
