Celtics

Recovery from lower-body injuries has become part of the process for Porzingis. This time it went quite smoothly.

The feeling of returning after a long absence due to a major lower body injury is recognizable for Kristaps Porzingis.

He missed the entire 2019 season with a torn ACL. He tore his meniscus during the 2020 playoffs. He missed two series last season and parts of two others entirely during the Celtics’ championship run.

He clearly played through pain as he prepared for Game 5 of the NBA Finals before undergoing offseason ankle surgery.

Porzingis said this recovery process was one of the smoothest he has ever experienced, and it allowed him to return to action a little sooner than expected.

“Honestly, I would say it was one of the easiest rehabs for me,” Porzingis said. “The only thing was I had to stay off the ankle for four to six weeks, so it was tough. With the scooter only on one leg, do not climb the stairs.”

“It was a little difficult from that perspective, but once that moment passed and I could walk, it honestly felt pretty natural,” he added. “When I played Game 5, it didn’t feel natural. That was the moment you could tell something was wrong. But when Dr. Once O’Malley fixed it, it felt super natural and just needed time to heal and get stronger.”

During the NBC Sports Boston broadcast of Monday night’s game, Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said he could tell Porzingis was ahead of schedule during the preseason last month.

The Celtics reportedly expected to get Porzingis back in December. The 7-foot center made his debut a few days before Thanksgiving.

“I don’t think we realized it until we actually got to camp and you saw him working,” Stevens said. “When we saw him in Abu Dhabi, the way he moved and the way he felt, it was pretty clear he was going to be at the front of that timeline.”

Porzingis said he was eager to get back on the road with his teammates after winning his first NBA championship last June.

“I started feeling pretty good almost a month ago,” Porzingis said. “I would say I was ahead the whole time during the whole rehab. It made me want to do more, start more, sprint, have one-on-one contact.”

“I asked the medical staff to do more, but we were still smart and completed all the phases to get to this point,” he continued. “I told them that if you give me the green light, I want to do it as quickly as possible. That’s it. I may have even arrived here a month early and it’s good to be back there.

He scored 16 points, grabbed six rebounds and made two blocks in 23 minutes in his season debut in a blowout win over the Clippers.

“I thought he played well. We were able to get some of our defensive versatility back,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. “A little bit of rim protection, a little bit more physicality on the ball because he was back there. Offensively, he just helped our spacing. It was good to get him back.”

For the most part, Porzingis seemed to be moving well. He scored the Celtics’ first points on a three-pointer from the top of the key. Half of his 12 shot attempts came from beyond the arc, but he also caught a few Alley-Oops.

It will be an adjustment to get used to the conditioning required to play a full NBA game, he said. His jumping ability wasn’t quite at the level he’s used to, but overall it was a solid start to his season.

“Honestly, I felt better than I expected,” Porzingis said. “Obviously your first wind is pretty crazy, burning lungs, burning legs and everything, but after that it was decent and normal. Even on the couple lobs, JB threw me a lob, Payton threw me a lob. I had a flat tire on both. I couldn’t get up at all, but it was good to be back there.”

Khari A. Thompson

Sports reporter

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Khari Thompson covers professional sports for Boston.com. Before joining the team in 2022, Khari covered college football for The Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Miss.

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