Kristaps Porzingis, despite being rusty, provided a spark in his 12-point debut with the Golden State Warriors, even though the team suffered a 121-110 home loss to the Boston Celtics. This was Porzingis' 18th game of the season and his first since January 7, when he was with the Atlanta Hawks, nearly a month before his trade to the Warriors. The Warriors, mindful of his recent absence, played it safe, bringing Porzingis off the bench and limiting his playing time to 17 minutes. He started slowly, missing his first two shots and struggling to keep up with the Celtics' offensive pace. Boston outscored the Warriors 38-19 in the second quarter, and led by 32 points when Porzingis re-entered the game late in the third quarter. Celtics star Jaylen Brown finished with 23 points, 15 rebounds, and 13 assists. However, the Warriors rallied and briefly threatened to cut the Boston lead to single digits, thanks in part to a Porzingis surge. He hit two long 3s, had a pair of successful post-ups, and finished with 12 points. The Warriors outscored the Celtics by 15 points with Porzingis on the floor in the second half after losing by 19 points in the first half. Porzingis expressed his desire to increase his minutes limit as quickly as possible, stating that he would have liked to play longer even if he was exhausted. The Warriors, without their two best players, Jimmy Butler and Stephen Curry, have dropped to 29-27 and need Porzingis to gain a rhythm and gear up rapidly for a needed offensive boost. Porzingis acknowledged that he was far from being in perfect shape, but he felt good and energized after his first game back after a while.
