Days After Jayson Tatum Confirmed Celtics Locker Room Fights, Kristaps Porzingis Makes Big Revelation About Team’s Plans

The Boston Celtics have had 14 seasons with 60+ wins in franchise history, and they’re flirting with that milestone again. With tonight’s dominant victory against the Nets, they became the third team this year to reach the 50-win mark—only behind the top-seeded Cavs and Thunder. All good up to this point but before getting ahead of ourselves, a cause for concern remains: The Celtics have rarely been at full strength this season.

Their ideal starting lineup—Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, Kristaps Porzingis, and Jrue Holiday—has shared the court for just over 300 minutes across 20 games. Whether that number increases before the playoffs remains uncertain. 13 games remain in the regular season which includes two back-to-backs and it is likely that more rotation will come into play. This also means that their top players might not get many more playoff-like reps for the rest of the regular season.

As they approach the final stretch of the regular season, there’s a debate brewing—chase the top seed, or prioritize health for a deep playoff run? The C’s have had their preferred starting five available since February 23, when the team had its entire top nine available in the win over the Knicks. Moreover, Boston’s top 10, including  Al Horford, Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser, Luke Kornet, and Neemias Queta have been available just 12 times over 68 games. The rest of their run after the six road games looks pretty straightforward except for the back-to-back against the Knicks and the Magic, two teams that the Celtics could very well meet in the playoffs.

It would make sense if Joe Mazzulla keeps his cards closer to his chest and rests key players. But his players have other thoughts. Kristaps Porzingis, who joined a rare club in the win against Brooklyn, is leaning toward one answer, at least publicly.

Following the Nets win, a reporter asked KP whether the 50-win accomplishment was a milestone for the team. “No, we didn’t set a milestone to get to 50 or a specific number. Still, how many games we have left? 14 or something?… 13? So, maybe we should win rest of 13 games and we would end up with 63. That would be a decent number,” The Latvian star answered post-game, clarifying that they haven’t given up on the number 1 seed just yet. But there are many moving parts to this story.

The Celtics suffered a major blow in their quest for the top seed when they were beaten by the Cavaliers at the end of the last month at TD Garden. At this point, the Cs look locked as the second seed in the East, and they would need to go on a remarkable run of wins and hope the Cavs slip up somewhere for them to catch them. It isn’t surprising why Porzingis felt they should be taking it one day at a time, “We don’t have any specific goal. We just go game by game and yeah, see where we end up.”

Well, it will be a massive challenge for the Celtics to live up to KP’s claim as they will begin a six-game road trip on Friday. The Celtics will head to Utah followed by trips to Portland and Sacramento. Games at Phoenix Suns and Spurs might not hold much fear for the NBA champions, but they do round off this run with a challenging game against the Memphis Grizzlies, who are eyeing the number 2 seed in the West. But even with the disadvantage of playing in enemy territory, Porzingis’s expectations are sky-high. When asked what a successful road trip would look like for the Cs, he said, “Yeah, 6-0, come back home would be perfect.”

In a recent interview with CLNS Media, a reporter asked Tatum how the team was balancing his playing time versus health. His response? “A lot of head-butting for sure.” Not surprising. JT is one of the league’s biggest warriors, playing through pain unless he absolutely has to sit. He’s consistently among the NBA’s minutes leaders, averaging 36.6 per game this season. But he is one player, the Celtics may not want to risk in the lead-up to the playoffs and beyond. But if it were up to him, he’d be on the floor every night.

“I understand the balance of being fresh and stuff…I’ve been very blessed and fortunate to, (when) I come in arenas, I see a lot of Tatum ‘0’ jerseys and kids with my shoes on… I try to stay ready and play as much and often as I can — and especially games on the road,” he said. Even Porzingis, who recently missed eight straight games due to an illness, wants to suit up for as many games as possible.

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“Yeah, I wanna definitely play. I need to get in the best shape. Now after the illness, it’s taken me a little bit. But yeah, with each day a little bit better,” he said while answering how many games he wants to play before the postseason. And his health? “Feeling all right. Feeling a little better with each day I would say. Energy is going back up. Yeah, but still for sure working my way back into the best shape,” KP said.

It appears the Celtics are confident that they rediscover their full-strength chemistry on short notice, with limited opportunities remaining before the season ends. However, their continuity from last season should be an asset, and one of Boston’s greatest strengths has been its ability to excel regardless of player availability.

Still, getting a few more opportunities for the starting five to regain last year’s swagger could be invaluable.

Clearly, no player wants to miss games at this stage in the season. But Porzingis also understands that availability in the playoffs is the top priority. “Just working my way back to the best shape and look forward to having my best shape now going into the postseason,” he added.  Winning 63 games sounds great, but does it really matter if the Celtics aren’t healthy for the playoffs? That’s the real battle being fought behind the scenes.

Meanwhile, Porzingis’ slow return from illness has paid off for him and the franchise, and on Tuesday against the Nets, he made history.

Porzingis joins elite club with performance against the Nets

The Celtics continued their recent dominance with a 104-96 win over the Brooklyn Nets. This was largely down to Baylor Scheierman, who scored a career-high 20 points, and Porzingis who had 25 points and 13 rebounds. He also had three blocks while shooting 9-13 from the field and made history in the process.

The NBA.com/Stats account on X (formerly Twitter), mentioned that the Celtics big man became just the 10th player in NBA history to record at least 900 threes and 900 blocks for their career — with LeBron James and Kevin Durant being members of that club as well.

The other members of this rare club are Brook Lopez, Rasheed Wallace, Clifford Robinson, Al Horford, Dirk Nowitzki, Shane Battier, and Scottie Pippen. It does appear that Porzingis does not want to slow down as we build toward the regular season climax.

Tatum’s desire to play every game, Porzingis’ slow return from illness, and the franchise’s long-term vision, keeping in mind players’ health may appear to be clashing at the moment. But they are all pulling in the same direction when it comes to retaining their title.