The Boston Celtics big man confirmed to ESPN's Malika Andrews (3:09 in video) that he will come off the bench for Sunday's Game 2 matchup against the Dallas Mavericks. Porziņģis had 20 points, six rebounds and three blocks in Game 1, dominating the Mavs in his first action since April 29.
https://youtu.be/aDsiXnwpjtY?si=Zra4R6Hx9W-via5X
by horseshoeoverlook
15 Comments
I wonder if losing a game will make them start him or if they are set on him coming off the bench the whole series
What if we start Pritchard, Hauser, Kornet, Brissy, Svi and then BOOOOM the bench comes🤯
I like the idea of Al being in when Gafford is out there and KP for Lively. Feel like KP is more likely to draw a foul on Lively, where I think Al can still draw Gafford out far enough. until Dallas finds a counter, seems like this is gonna be the move
KP might still only play 20-25 minutes so coming off the bench allows them to hunt matchups better. Love the strategy and also love that Al gets another start. In a way I feel like they feel an obligation to let the old man start, out of respect
Love it, turns our bench into a true threat.
Imagine being the Mavs – you’re already under pressure as soon as the game starts then you realize Kristaps is still on the bench, smiling and winking at you, waiting to check in and throttle you.
KP paying the ultimate tribute to the late great Bill Walton
This is a brilliant move, “Whatever it takes” everyone’s sacrificing in one way or another.
Awesome
If game 2 *looks like* game 1 in terms of defensive strategies on both sides I think this series is over. I don’t think Jason Kidd is an experienced enough head coach to make the necessary adjustments on defense.
If Kidd/Dallas has a plan B or is able to quickly formulate a plan B, it could be a series. But I have doubts they can adjust.
The only thing that really worked for Dallas was when they could force Porzingis into covering Doncic in space. Luka was 5 of 7 (3 of 4 from 3) and this only happened a few times. Nobody noticed because of all the other stuff that Porzingis did well, and because he only needed to log about 20 minutes. But I suspect Joe and the Cs staff did, and would prefer to have Zinger out there 100% of the time Luka is resting. They are probably also looking at avoiding the actions Dallas was using to force those switches.
Luka had a much harder time with Horford, for obvious reasons and I think Boston should be feeling great about defending the Dallas starting 5 with Boston’s game 1 starters.
6th man of the playoffs
If it isn’t broke don’t fix it
20 years from now some nephews gonna tell me KP wasn’t a big part of the team because he didn’t even start in the Finals and I will laugh and laugh.
I know coaches need to submit their starting lineups 30 minutes before the game. If Kidd starts Lively, will Joe know so that he can counter with Porzingis?