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BOSTON — Kristaps Porziņģis ripped off the shirt that said “Walton” on it, rising to a standing ovation upon playing for the first time in a month — then proceeded to play like the missing piece from the second-to-last Celtics championship.
Players from the Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks honored the late NBA great, Bill Walton, by wearing a shirt with his name on it to start the NBA Finals, and Porziņģis, perhaps unknowingly, evoked the best possible tribute to the fan favorite.
He didn’t solely set the tone, but everything he did was loud as the Celtics struck first in this best-of-seven series and sent a resounding message in Game 1 with a 107-89 win at TD Garden.
Loud was the theme — like Walton’s unmistakable laugh, like Jaylen Brown’s relentless defense on Luka Dončić, like the Celtics crowd being in a full lather of anger whenever Kyrie Irving touched the ball.
But it’s Porziņģis who completes this team, whether as a starter like he’s been throughout his whole career, or off the bench, as was the case for just the second time in his nine-year career. The parallels are almost too delicious for the syrupy Celtics fan base, as the team honored Walton before the game, showing his family in a luxury box. Walton was the missing piece for the 1985-86 team, arguably the best of the Larry Bird era. Beset by injury following such a promising start to his career that featured a championship and MVP, Walton merely needed to be a complementary piece to the legendary frontline of Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish.
In short, Walton would’ve carried Bird’s bags if Bird demanded it, but his passing, rebounding and activity did wonders.
For Porziņģis, his highs haven’t touched the sky the way Walton’s did in his heyday, but he found the perfect place in Boston — the 3-point happy team leaves plenty of room for him to operate from deep or at the free-throw line against smaller defenders, and its swarming individual defense funnels unsuspecting drivers off the freeway and into a brick wall at the rim.
Kristaps Porzingis celebrates a 3-pointer during the first half of Game 1 of the…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/2024-nba-finals-kristaps-porzingis-lifts-celtics-in-return-reminding-boston-of-what-its-been-missing-054105838.html
Author : Yahoo Sports
Publish date : 2024-06-07 05:41:05
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