BOSTON – In his first game since helping the Celtics win the NBA championship five months ago, Kristaps Porzingis picked up where he left off.

The 7-foot-3 center, making his season debut after offseason leg surgery, finished with 16 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 2 blocked shots in 23 minutes for Boston, as the Celtics led by 29 at halftime. points ahead. en route to a 126-94 win over the LA Clippers at TD Garden on Monday night.

“I felt great,” Porzingis said with a smile. “It was a long recovery and I was eager to get back to work with this team after winning a championship. It was a good start, a good first game back.”

It certainly was, as Boston took an early lead and never looked back, turning the final 24 minutes into an extended celebration of Porzingis’ return.

And in his first game in five months, Porzingis immediately provided the combination of floor spacing and rim protection that bolsters Boston’s efforts on both ends.

In a sign of both Porzingis’ versatility and what life is like in today’s NBA, Porzingis – the tallest player on the court – took half of his shots from three-point range, including from the top of the key on each of the first two possessions. After missing the first, he made the second – the only one he would make of six attempts.

Inside the arc, however, it was a different story. Porzingis went 5-for-6 on two-point shots — including a nice mid-post bucket over James Harden and knocking down multiple lobs from teammates — though he joked that he got “flat tires” on both because of a combination of his timing and his conditioning.

“It’s part of the process,” Porzingis said. “Especially the first race back. A little bit of timing on the jump, a flat tire here and there and stuff. It’s normal.”

But it was on the other side where Porzingis could potentially have an even bigger impact. Boston, which had the No. 2 defense last season, entered this season at No. 10 on Monday with the 19th-ranked rim defense (after ranking first in that category last season).

On Monday, Porzingis was part of a Celtics defense that had a season-high 11 blocks — Boston hadn’t had more than nine in any game this season — and immediately became a deterrent, leading Clippers wideout Ivica Zubac (23 points and 10 rebounds) to go a combined 2-for-8 from the field.

“Yeah, 11 blocks tonight,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said with a big smile when asked how Porzingis can change things defensively for Boston. “It helps.”

Porzingis had been building for Monday’s return for weeks. He said he has been at the forefront of the rehabilitation process every step of the way and has been feeling good since a month ago. Although the timeline for his return to the court was originally scheduled for December or January, he practiced for the first time a week ago with the Maine Celtics, Boston’s G League team, and had spent the past week undergoing rigorous pregame workouts that indicated his return could come sooner.

When Porzingis was upgraded to probable around noon Monday in the aftermath of Boston’s 107-105 win over Minnesota on Sunday night, he returned to the starting lineup for Boston for the first time since suffering a calf injury in Game 4 of Boston’s first-round series. playoff series against the Miami Heat.

To start this season, Boston hasn’t missed a beat without Porzingis, as the Celtics are on pace to surpass last season’s regular season record of 64-18 and have attempted an average of 50 three-pointers – which would shatter the previous NBA record.

But that did not dampen the enthusiasm for his return. Porzingis received a huge ovation during pre-game warmups from fans surrounding the field, and another when he was announced as the starter.

The 48 minutes of game action that followed then became an ongoing celebration of his return, and the potential this group has to become the first Celtics team to repeat as NBA champions since 1969 – with Porzingis and his two-way versatility a key component.

“It’s going to change from night to night, and we’re a versatile team,” Jaylen Brown, one of six Celtics in double figures with 16 points, said of Boston’s many ways to play on both ends. “We have a lot of luxury where different guys can do different things. The key is to stay motivated and have a great mentality.”