Porzingis Scores 12 in Warriors Debut as Celtics Win 121-110
Kristaps Porzingis made his warriors debut in San Francisco on Thursday night, scoring 12 points in 17 minutes as Boston recorded a 121-110 victory — a return that matters as Porzingis aims to regain rhythm after more than a month sidelined by injuries.
Warriors debut ended in a loss
Porzingis entered the game after being acquired from the Hawks in a trade-deadline deal for forward Jonathan Kuminga. He had been out for more than a month with various injuries and setbacks but practiced fully on Wednesday and declared himself ready to play.
San Francisco hosted the game on Thursday night. Porzingis scored 12 points in 17 minutes in what the box score recorded as Boston’s 121-110 victory.
Porzingis, Horford logged minutes in familiar frontcourt roles
Al Horford also made his first appearance against his former team since leaving in free agency, playing 28 minutes and scoring 5 points on 2-of-10 shooting. Coach Steve Kerr noted the pair’s past success when they shared the court in double-big lineups and said, “As a two-man combination they were surrounding some good players, so you always have to look at things through your own team’s lens. It’s definitely a possibility they will play together since they’ve been successful in the past, but we’ll get a feel for that here over the next couple of weeks. ”
Porzingis said he had started working back into basketball shape a few weeks ago and feels healthy. “I feel good on the court and I have done a bunch of work before the All-Star Break and I stayed active and did not take some time off because I’ve barely played this season, ” he said. “I want to get out there and feel good and start building on top of this and finish the year really strong. ”
Roster moves, standings and immediate aftermath
The warriors have been slowed by injuries, most notably Jimmy Butler’s season-ending ACL tear, and are listed at 29-27 and in eighth place in the Western Conference. Payton Pritchard, a former teammate, praised Horford’s veteran presence and said Porzingis “made the game easy” during his two seasons with Boston, adding that Porzingis created mismatches that helped teammates.
The Celtics added depth around the deadline as well: the team signed free agent guard Dalano Banton and two-way contract player John Tonje to 10-day contracts after opening roster spots following a flurry of trades prior to the Feb. 5 deadline.
Kerr’s assessment that the coaching staff will “get a feel for that here over the next couple of weeks” sets the immediate roadmap: the team will experiment with lineups and minutes now that Porzingis and Horford have logged minutes together. Porzingis has said he intends to build on this outing and finish the year strong, and the next confirmed checkpoint is the coaching staff’s planned evaluation over the coming weeks as they settle rotations and monitor his recovery and conditioning.
