While the Boston Celtics’ loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder wasn’t the desired outcome, it’s not something they would completely lose sleep over. They still boast two of the best stars in the NBA with one of the association’s deepest rosters backing them up.
Kristaps Porzingis is one of the key contributors to the C’s successes over the past two years. The Latvian big has been a terrific big man for Joe Mazzulla’s squad, providing both scoring and defense to take some of the pressure off of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
While Porzingis admits that the team stepped off the gas during the team’s loss to OKC, one worrying statistic shows a roster dilemma that Mazzulla and the coaching staff must address.
Kristaps Porzingis’ efficiency with the Celtics questions his starting spot
It may be hard to imagine Boston struggling with one particular thing when they sit second in the Eastern Conference. Their 92-105 defeat to the Thunder might become a blip in a stellar campaign if they win back-to-back Larry O’Brien trophies.
However, fans who kept a close eye on the C’s and follow analytics know that the team is struggling with KP on the roster.
Masslive.com’s Brian Robb wrote about Boston’s big-man rotations:
The Celtics playing with their full rotation led to a host of interesting decisions as well from Joe Mazzulla. Luke Kornet (15 minutes) played more than Sixth Man of the Year favorite Payton Pritchard (11 minutes) amid a poor shooting night for the point guard. Porzingis (29 minutes) also played more minutes than Al Horford (24 minutes) and the duo went double big on multiple occasions with Kornet. The combos led to success in the first half but much less so after intermission.
Ultimately, Mazzulla did not play a reserve beyond Horford in the fourth quarter, sticking with his starters for most of the final eight minutes when the going got tough.
He also pointed out an important stat the Celtics’ coaching staff must consider:
Net rating for Porzingis with usual starting five: -11.3 in 103 minutes (7 games)
Net rating for Horford with usual starting five: +22.7 in 206 minutes (12 games)
Porzingis has been a solid performer for the Celtics when it comes to the raw stats. He’s averaging 17.8 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.4 blocks through 13 starts. While Horford may have lower production than KP, he’s a better contributor to how the Celtics perform this season.
It will be interesting to see if Mazzulla actually goes forward with letting Horford take over the starting spot as the playoffs inch closer. Porzingis must change his approach if he wants to retain his spot in the roster.
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