Kristaps Porzingis hopes to return to the field this weekend after missing two weeks and five games. Injuries have been frequent unwanted partners for Porzingis in his career, but regular 82-game NBA seasons should hardly be expected from the 2.21m tall player, and there is no doubt that the Celtics were also counting on the potential injuries of their summer signing. After all, Porzingis had previously never played more than 72 games in any season in his NBA career (and this record was achieved in his rookie year).
If anyone wants to look for more black spots in the beginning of Porzingis’ season, they can point to the fact that his productivity is at the lowest level since 2016/17. seasons of the year. But that would be touching without context. In the first 15 games, Porzingis scored an average of 18.9 points, which is still a high level of productivity, and – what is even more important this time – very efficient.
Porzingis’ shooting accuracy with the Celtics is the best of his entire career. He hit 54.7% of his shots from the field, while in only one of the previous seasons his shooting accuracy was higher than 48% (49.8% in the previous season). It is clear that the season is still long and everything can change, but even looking at only the first month of each season (a few games at the end of October and all of November), Porzingis is as accurate as he has ever been.
The reason for this is quite obvious – the Boston “Celtics” offense is using him as effectively as ever. The “Celtics” lineup is completed with a clear task, in which practically all scenarios that do not end with the championship cup in the hands of Porzingis&Co will probably be considered a failure. The team has several more high-level scorers, led by Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown, both of whom consistently scored over 20 points per game at the start of the season (27.6 points for Tatum and 22.2 points for Brown, respectively), and point guard Derrick White (14.5 points) also made a solid contribution. and Drew Holliday (12.2 points).
Therefore, it is logical that the number of shots from the game by Porzingis has decreased. In the first month of the season, it was an average of 11.9 shots per game, which is even less than in his debut season and 25% less than the previous season. However, the number of his “bad” shots has decreased, while Porzingis takes about as many free throws and shots from under the basket as before.
For example, the statistics offered by the NBA show that in the previous season, Porzingis had 18.9%, or practically every fifth shot from the game, was a half shot with a defender nearby. In the “Celtics” jersey, Porzingis had a total of only nine such shots (5%), moreover, he was seen to deliver the same ones to the basket with 67% accuracy. Likewise, the number of shots before which Porzingis plays with the ball himself has decreased significantly – only 12% of all his shots this season have been after at least two touches of the ball on the ground, while last season they were 22.3% in the “Wizards” lineup.
Types of shots by Porzingis – % of the total number of shots
Category Porzingis 22/23 Porzingis 23/242p. shots from under the basket37.9%49.2%2p. shots immediately after the pass4.2%2.2%3p. shots31.9%39.6%Shoots after 2 or more dribbles22.3%11.7%
*”Nearby” here denotes a situation where the nearest defender is not further than 1.8m at the time of the shot. On the other hand, with “free throws” the opposite situation occurs – the closest defender is further than 1.8m at the time of execution of the throw.
In addition, it cannot be claimed that Porzingis has already demonstrated his maximum efficiency on the court and the continuation can only be a decline. On the contrary, you can rather expect that Porzingis’ long-range shooting accuracy will hardly remain at the level of only 32.4% (currently the second lowest rate in his career), considering that he mostly makes long-range shots when he is free (95% of his long-range shots this season have been when the nearest cover is not closer than 1.8 meters). Additionally, the advantage of Porzingis’ impressive height means that a defender on the long throw line is also often in a difficult position to interfere with his shot.
“Celtics” like to play on Tatum and Brown, who finish their own attacks very efficiently (Tatum has 50% shot accuracy, Brown is a bit more modest so far with 46% hit shots). For the first time in his career, Porzingis is a so-called third option in the team’s attack, and in principle one could expect an even greater drop in his productivity. However, he is currently still in the league’s “Top50” list of the most productive players (47th place), while, looking at the so-called “True +/- indicator” in the in-depth statistics, which determines the player’s contribution to the team’s attack and defense, Porzingis is in the high tenth place in the league. Tatum ranks third in the league in that statistic.
How often do the Celtics’ leaders close the team’s attacks?
PlayerPointsUsage Rate*Jayson Tatum27.630.0 Jaylen Brown22.228.2 Kristaps Porzingis18.921.6Derrick White14.519.1Dree Holiday12.218.1
*Usage ratio is calculated by evaluating how many attacks a player completes on average in 40 minutes played. By “concludes” is meant a shot made, a penalty shootout, a successful pass and a lost ball.
Already in the summer, it was clear that Porzingis was waiting for a new experience in the world’s strongest basketball league. The Knicks, Mavericks, and Wizards were all teams that entered the season with the goal of making the playoffs. In Dallas, there were more serious rumors that Doncic and Porzingis should be tuned for a further “play-off” run, but no one really called “Mavericks” a contender for the title at that time. For the Boston “Celtics”, no goals for the “play-off” are called at all, it is perceived as a self-evident task.
For now, Porzingis and “Celtics” keep the high bar level. With 15 wins in 20 games, Boston is second in the league. With Porzingis in the lineup, 11 victories have been achieved in 15 matches, and “Celtics” are still undefeated at home. And here it must be noted that the offseason changes, including the Porzingis trade, have greatly improved the “Celtics” defense. Boston was also a strong defensive team last season (the fifth lowest number of points allowed in the league), but at the start of this season, the “Celtics” are allowing an average of 3.3 points per game less than before and can be proud of the league’s best scoring statistics (+8.4 per game).
A solid foundation has been laid that still has room for improvement. However, it must be taken into account that, unlike the previous seasons, this time the season of Porzingis and his team will be judged in the NBA community by what they succeed in the spring, not what they did in the fall and winter.
Porzingis’ NBA career – statistics in the first month of the season*
YearTeamGamesPointsShoots%Distance%Sm%Att.b.Rec.p.ErrorsGoals.b.Blocks2023-24BOS1518.955%32%79%6.71.91.30.71.72022-23WAS2121.648%39%79%8.72.41.80.81.6202 1- 22DAL1419.645%31%88%7.92.01.50.91.62020-21DAL918.645%29%79%8.00.91.00.21.62019-20DAL1717.340%35%71%9.41.51.70.62.22017-18NYK1925 .847%40%84% 6.81.12.40.52.12016-17NYK1821.449%41%78%7.21.41.40.81.52015-16NYK1813.642%29%81%9.30.91.80.81.9
*Given that the NBA season usually starts in the second half of October, the “first month of the season” includes both late October games and all of November.
Resources used:
The official site of the NBA for the latest NBA…
ESPN – Serving Sports Fans. Anytime. Anywhere.
