Five minutes into the Boston Celtics’ 116-103 victory over the San Antonio Spurs, 7’2 Kristaps Porzingis palmed a pass from Derrick White and pivoted four times before launching a floater over 7’3 Victor Wembanyama.
Porzingis looked elated as he hustled back to the other side of the floor, pointing out to the home crowd at TD Garden.
It’s not every night NBA fans get to watch a “Unicorn” and an “Alien” go head-to-head, and Boston’s final game before the All-Star break packed plenty to celebrate for Porzingis.
Eight years before Wembanyama won Rookie of the Year on San Antonio, Porzingis was the foreign import considered otherworldly as a New York Knick. His career in the years since his 2016 All-Rookie First Team season has been a journey of injury setbacks and trades, but in Boston – and especially on a night going against an even more hyped version of who he once was – Porzingis looks close to the best version of what a 7-footer can be in today’s NBA.
Porzingis has played freely for the Celtics since his return from lower leg surgery in November – sometimes, perhaps, a little too freely, as he recorded five turnovers against the Spurs. But he managed to be an eraser everywhere else on the floor, slamming a one-handed dunk at the end of the third quarter and celebrating with Jayson Tatum before hitting a 30-foot three-pointer in early in the fourth. He finished with 29 points, 6 rebounds, an assist, and a block. He had the best field goal percentage on his team, and took the second-most shots, behind Tatum.
It’s almost unfair to compare these two guys, even as their play styles emulate one another. The expectations for Wembanyama are sky-high. He’s averaging about four blocks per game this season on a Matumbo-Hakeem style tear. But he underwhelmed at TD Garden, shooting a pedestrian 38.5% and finishing with 14 points, and zero three-pointers. He bears the burden of every lottery pick: he’s the linchpin of his team, even as he’s newly paired with a deputy in recently-acquired De’Aaron Fox. He’s been hailed as not only the savior of the Spurs, but the next face of a league transitioning from a Generation LeBron. He’s a 21-year-old still building out his spidery limbs in the weight room. His best years, hopefully, stretch way ahead of him.
Porzingis’ job is simply easier. Even without Jaylen Brown and Jrue Holiday Wednesday night, the cast around him is more talented than anywhere else in the league. He’s got wear and tear, but he also has NBA experience under his belt. The pressure he feels has to be another nature from that on Wembanyama: the expectation for Porzingis is to help the Celtics to reach another championship, and it makes sense, then, why he’s playing with relentless energy night-in and night-out. Heavy is the head that wears the crown, but lifting a trophy with an entire team? That’s a more manageable weight.
And Porzingis has to know it. That’s why he looks so happy here in Boston, whether he’s raising his arms in celebration to the crowd, or telling reporters how he has to “win with meat.” Through his 28 games this year, at age 29, he’s shooting better from behind the arc than ever before in his career, and he’s doing that on a team that lives and dies by the three-pointer. So maybe Porzingis never reached the heights a 7-footer like Wembayama is expected to, but this last night before the break is a reminder how well he fits here. That’s no small thing.
