San Francisco — kristaps porzingis made my own Warrior For the first time on Thursday night a 121-110 loss of home to boston celtics Who never felt close.
It was only Porzingis’ 18th game of the season and his first since January 7, when he was with atlanta hawksAbout a month before his trade deadline with the Warriors.
Because of this, the Warriors slowed his comeback, removing Porzingis from the bench and limiting him to 17 minutes. Porzingis got off to a slow start, missing his first two shots and struggling to deal with the Celtics’ offensive avalanche.
Boston outscored the Warriors 38–19 in the second quarter and led by 32 when Porzingis re-entered the game late in the third quarter. celtics star jaylen brown Finished with 23 points, 15 rebounds and 13 assists.
“Boston was unbelievable,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “He’s having an amazing season. He’s a machine right now.”
But the Warriors rallied and briefly threatened to cut Boston’s lead to single digits thanks to Porzingis’ lead. He hit two long 3s, made two successful post-ups and finished with 12 points. The Warriors beat the Celtics by 15 points with Porzingis on the court in the second half after being minus-19 during his minutes in the first half.
“He looked more comfortable and settled in,” Kerr said.
Porzingis said he would like to increase his minutes “as quickly as possible.”
“Even tonight, I’d love to go a little longer,” Porzingis said. “Even though I’m tired out there, I still want to push myself. But I know I have to take it step by step. Hopefully I can add some minutes in the next game.”
warriors face off denver nuggets on Sunday (12:30 p.m. PT, ABC). they will be left without jimmy butlerwho tore his ACL and was finished for the season, and Stephen CurryThose whose right knee problem continues to bother them Sidelined at least four games.
Without their two best players, the beleaguered Warriors fall to 29-27 and Porzingis needs to find his rhythm and get the offensive boost he needs quickly.
“I felt absolutely fine,” Porzingis said. “Far from being in perfect shape. But I think for the first game in a while, getting some energy back, I’m feeling good.”
