Celtics makes NBA history with Kristaps Porzingis award

Porzingis averaged 19.8 points, 10 rebounds, and three blocks per game last week, helping the C’s earn a 4-0 record in that time. For the season, he’s averaging 20.2 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks per outing. The Latvian big man is also shooting a career-high 51.8% from the field.

Although Porzingis isn’t averaging career-best marks across the board, he’s fit in Boston’s system nicely and made the Celtics’ starting five one of the most talented groups in the league. Fellow Player of the Week recipients Tatum, Brown, and White are all averaging over 15 points per game as well, and the fifth typical starter, Jrue Holiday, rounds out Boston’s potent rotation with elite defense and timely shot-making.

Celtics starting five has been incredible this season

Essentially, the balance of Boston’s starting five has allowed them to reach new heights. The Celtics boast the top net rating in the league, are the No. 1 overall seed in the NBA, and are an incredible 15 games ahead of the second-place Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference. That kind of dominance from the C’s hasn’t been seen since the 2007-08 season when Boston won its last championship thanks to the star-studded Big Three of Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett.

At 62-16 overall and four games remaining on the schedule, the current Green Team could still tie the stellar 66-16 regular season record held by the 2007-08 Celtics. But, whether that happens or not, Brown thinks the team should be proud of their success. He discussed Boston’s regular season accomplishments on Sunday night after surpassing 10,000 career points en route to a 124-107 win over the Portland Trail Blazers.

“Anytime that you can win at a high level, you don’t take that for granted,” he said. “This is the most regular season wins I’ve ever had in my career. So that’s awesome. It’s just been great from top to bottom. Looking forward to carrying it over to the playoffs, but still don’t want to skip over how much work it takes to win 62 games, and counting, in a season.”

The Celtics will try for win No. 63 on Tuesday evening, as they travel to Wisconsin to take on the struggling Bucks, who’ve lost six of their last seven games. Since Boston has nothing to play for, Porzingis and veteran center Al Horford are listed as questionable, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if one of them didn’t end up playing.

Regardless of rest management, Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla will use this contest against an underachieving, yet contending Bucks squad to test his starters and give his bench some more run. He hopes this kind of preparation and in-game practice will make the Celtics even more battle-tested ahead of the 2024 NBA Playoffs.