Court Vision: Porzingis Shines As Celtics Down Nuggets

Kristaps Porzingis is getting his swagger back

“No matter what you do, they’re gonna get 50 3s up. I really believe that…Nineteen of their 50 3s they take are off the bounce. They’re shooting pull-up 3s in transition. They’re shooting pull-up 3s in pick-and-rolls. That is their thing offensively. ‘We’re gonna just put a lot of 3s up.'"

Those were Mike Malone’s words when talking to reporters from the Denver Post during his pregame media availability. 99% of the time, Malone would be right. We’re all Celtics fans here. We know the double-edged sword of Boston’s three-point-based offense.

However, Mazzulla pivoted against a Nuggets team missing Nikola Jokic and Aaron Gordon. They looked Malone square in the face and called him a liar. Metaphorically speaking, of course.

I don’t know what’s up with the mask in this gif. But, you can’t say “metaphorically speaking” without referring to this BANGER of a movie.

Of Boston’s 88 shots, 35 came from deep. For the season, the Celtics rank first in the NBA for three-point frequency, with 51.5% of their total offense coming from the perimeter. Against Denver, only 39.7% of their offense came from deep.

Instead, the Celtics attacked the rim.

For the most part, Boston had two bigs on the court. Their combinations consisted of:

• Porzingis/Horford

• Kornet/Horford

• Queta/Porzingis

• Queta/Horford

• Kornet/Porzingis

Here’s a full breakdown of the Celtics minutes distribution.

If you like these game flow charts, check out popcornmachine.net

After a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, where most fans came away asking to see some versatility in Boston’s offensive approach, the Celtics responded. The beauty of this roster lies in its versatility. With the exception of Kornet and Queta (probably Springer, too), everyone in last night’s rotation is a multi-level scorer.

Hauser has added an off-the-bounce game to attack closeouts. Pritchard has proven himself around the rim, on the perimeter and has clearly been building out his mid-range game. Tatum, Brown, Porzings, White, Holiday — we know what these guys can do. And who can forget ageless-Al?

While everyone had their moments, Porzingis stood out among the crowd. His stop-start season has left him fighting for rhythm and game fitness. However, he appeared to be nearing the best version of himself when playing Denver, especially in the opening quarter.

How many times have we seen a movement like this from KP this season? Answer: Not many, if at all.

We often see the Celtics run this action for Brown, or one of their guards. Here’s an example of it being run for White last season.

A simple corner pin-down for a shooter to curl and receive a catch around the elbow. This is where the roster versatility comes into play.

Porzingis is more than capable when shooting off the catch and is also a high-level mid-range scorer. There’s no reason you wouldn’t want him taking that shot when his defender has gone under a screen.