Kristaps Porzingis played just his third game of the season against the Cavs Sunday night but that’s preventing him from maintaining high standards for himself. The seven-footer posted 21 points and eight rebounds in a season-high 32 minutes as the shorthanded Celtics lost 115-111 to the Cavaliers at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse. Those type of numbers for Porzingis would seem impressive on the surface after five-month absence due to offseason surgery. However, Porzingis pointed the finger at himself postgame after Boston blew a 12-point lead in the fourth quarter of the setback.
“They hit some big shots towards the end, but I think we didn’t execute well enough,” Porzingis told reporters in Cleveland. “I felt myself that I didn’t play up to my level today and, and I was like a half a half a step late on some situations, didn’t anticipate some things quickly enough. With the game being as close as it is and was, I think we have a big margin of playing much better than we did tonight.”
Porzingis did not make a shot in the fourth quarter but did hit all four of his free throws in the frame. However, Boston’s main issues late came on the defensive end where the Cavs shot 70 percent from the field in the fourth quarter including making their final seven shot attempts of the game. Porzingis was targeted in a few of those sequences in the pick-and-roll and was also late in some help situations.
The big man was hesitant to use his recent return from injury as an excuse for those miscues.
“I feel pretty good,” Porzingis said. “Tonight was not ideal but it’s something very easily correctable. Of course it stings we lost and it is what it is so this is going to make us bounce back and get better.”
The defensive woes late overshadowed what had been a rough offensive night for Boston outside of the third quarter. The Celtics had their worst shooting night of the year (40 percent from the field) thanks in part to a pair of key absences in Derrick White and Jaylen Brown. With those guys sidelined, the Celtics had to lean more heavily on Porzingis than expected with big minutes so soon into his return and play a couple lineups with double bigs (Porzingis/Horford) that did not fare well against the Cavs 3-point shooting in the fourth quarter.
Ultimately, Porzingis is expected to get the night off Monday to rest his leg on the second night of the back-to-back but the team is likely thrilled with how Porzingis looks physically one week into his return. Despite his tough assessment of his play on Sunday night, he looks very much like the player that took Boston to another level last year. Holding his own defensively against the Cavs firepower will be an area to keep an eye on moving forward as tough matchups loom in a future showdown with the potential East top contender.
