Former Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis expects to make his debut with the Golden State Warriors when they host Boston on Thursday night.
However, one of Porzingis’ new teammates will be absent, as two-time MVP Stephen Curry will miss his sixth consecutive game because of a sore right knee.
Porzingis was acquired by the Warriors from the Atlanta Hawks at the trade deadline but hasn’t played since Jan. 7 due to issues with his left Achilles tendon. He said at the time of the trade that Thursday’s game was his target date for returning to the court.
“I look forward to really having a surprisingly good post All-Star break,” he said.
Porzingis, who has played in 17 games this season (12 starts), is considered “questionable” for Thursday per the Warriors’ injury list, but he said he is “ready to go.” He is averaging 17.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.3 blocked shots per contest.
Porzingis played for Boston last season, but was limited to 42 games with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome. The Celtics traded him to the Hawks in July. He did not play against Boston while with Atlanta.
“He’s an easy fit,” Kerr said. “You don’t have to change a whole lot. The biggest difference I guess that he provides is post-ups. He’s a pretty good post-up player, especially against switches. You throw him the ball at the foul line, the elbows, even the low block, he can score in those spots. That was one of the things we did today, we worked on our spacing.”
Regarding Curry and his continued absence, Kerr said Wednesday, “Just wasn’t where he needed to be. It’s unfortunate. We’ll have an update (Thursday) after he goes through his time with the training staff.”
The Warriors, who lost four of their last six games before the All-Star break, occupy eighth place in the Western Conference standings. Boston will enter the Thursday game as the No. 2 team in the Eastern Conference, 5 1/2 games behind Detroit.
Speculation has ramped up regarding the possibility of injured forward Jayson Tatum suiting up for the Celtics in the second half of the season. Tatum, who is recovering from a torn Achilles, began practicing with some of his teammates this week. He had surgery in May.
“He looked like Jayson Tatum, I’ll say that much,” Ron Harper Jr. said. “We’re really excited for the potential of him coming back. We don’t know for sure if he’s going to come back. We’re just really excited to see him progress during his rehab.”
Tatum averaged 26.8 points, 8.7 rebounds and a career-high 6.0 assists per game in 2024-25. The six-time All-Star has averaged 23.6 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.8 assists during his 585-game NBA career.
Thursday night’s matchup will be the first of two for these teams this season and should feature plenty of perimeter scoring. The Warriors lead the NBA in made 3-point field goals (897), while Boston is third (831).
–Field Level Media
