There’s only one brutal move left for the Celtics to fix their Porzingis problem

It’s time for Joe Mazzulla to officially remove Kristaps Porzingis from the Boston Celtics’ rotation in favor of Luke Kornet. Mazzulla took the first step in Game 2, benching Porzingis in favor of Al Horford in the starting lineup. Kornet even subbed in before Porzingis. But the Latvian big man still got his chances to get in the game.

Unfortunately, he failed to make the most of said chances. Porzingis finished Game 2 with eight points and four rebounds on 3-of-5 shooting from the field, but he was an absolute mess from a spacing perspective, constantly getting in the way of whatever play Boston decided to run.

Regardless of the circumstances, Porzingis has quickly become a liability in this series.

The same illness that held the big man out for eight games in March has continued to plague him. He’s been dealing with the fallout of the issue ever since, and it seems to have picked back up in the last couple of weeks.

While it’s a respectable concept that he’s been trying to play through the ailment, it’s hurting the Celtics on both ends of the floor, all the while Kornet has looked like the more effective option.

Porzingis’ stint in the first half wasn’t great, but the Celtics gave him another chance in the third quarter. And while he was gift-wrapped an and-one dunk after a Jayson Tatum air-ball, he was still all over the place on the offensive end.

Kristaps Porzingis ruined the Celtics' offensive spacing

As the Celtics were spiralling amidst a giant New York Knicks comeback run, Porzingis completely botched an entire play. He initially set a screen for Tatum so Mitchell Robinson would switch onto the Celtics star, rolling toward the rim afterward.

Payton Pritchard then screened for Tatum to get another switch, likely in hopes of removing Robinson from the paint entirely. Tatum then had Jalen Brunson on him, and all Porzingis had to do was pick an option—seal off OG Anunoby or roam over to the dunker spot to give Tatum an easy pass.

He did neither.

Instead, Porzingis sealed off Anunoby too early before sliding over to the dunker spot, simultaneously giving Anunoby time to help on Tatum but not giving Tatum enough time to make a quality pass. It was a mess. Could Tatum have still made the pass? Yes. But Porzingis did a poor job of timing his decisions.

Kristaps Porzingis' defense wasn't there, either

Then, on the other end, Porzingis has been just as ineffective. After the Celtics stopped Josh Hart at the rim, he and Tatum watched as the Knicks wing chased down his own offensive rebound. Then, as Porzingis was ball-watching, Robinson caught him out of position. 

And instead of intentionally fouling him (since Robinson has been a disaster at the free-throw line this series), Porzingis gave up an and-one.

Meanwhile, Kornet had a solid Game 2. He ended up playing more minutes than Porzingis, but at this point, Kornet and Horford should be the only bigs playing. There’s no need for Porzingis to be on the floor.