BOSTON — Kristaps Porzingis remains recovering behind the scenes, working toward a postseason return as the Celtics aim to hold the fort down through their Eastern Conference semifinal series with the Cavaliers.
Porzingis was ruled out 24 hours ahead of Game 1, leaving it up to Boston to, once again, find other ways to remain dangerous on both ends of the floor. When it came to closing out the Heat, most notably in Game 5, longtime veteran Al Horford answered the call.
Yet, the team doesn’t envision that slack falling on anyone or any position, in particular, after the Celtics defeated the Cavaliers, 120-95, to take a series 1-0 lead.
“It’s not just on the bigs, it’s on everybody to rebound, to play physical, to communicate,” Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla said Tuesday night. “I thought Al, and Luke (Kornet), and (Xavier Tillman Sr.) did a good job from the big standpoint but it’s on everyone to do that.”
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Mazzulla inserted Horford into the starting lineup, then paired the 37-year-old alongside backup center Luke Kornet, which came rarely (just over 45 total minutes) during the regular season — and it worked. Horford scored seven points, grabbed eight rebounds, and tallied four assists while Kornet grabbed 10 rebounds and logged two blocks in 21 minutes off the bench.
Kornet played only 26 minutes divvied through three appearances in the first round against Miami, recording three shot attempts in the limited span. But as the roster has shown since Opening Night, role players are ready to be plugged in when the opportunity presents itself.
No single player is capable of replicating everything Porzingis brings to the table on a night-to-night basis, however, that wasn’t needed for the final couple of matchups with the Heat, and it isn’t needed to take down Cleveland either.
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“I thought Luke was exceptional,” Brown explained. “When he came in, he was great. He came in, he added value to the second group, he contested shots at the rim, he rebounded, and he made timely plays on offense.”
Helping maintain the depth pressure, undersized guard Payton Pritchard came through off the bench, too, scoring 16 points on 5-for-12 shooting with five rebounds, finishing a game-high plus-19.
The victory encapsulated Boston’s ability to overcome both Porzingis’ absence and an uncharacteristic off-night from Jayson Tatum. The five-time All-Star scored 18 points, shooting a subpar 7-of-19 from the field and 0-of-5 from 3-point range, registering a not-so-notable double-double by grabbing 11 rebounds.
The Celtics didn’t operate on Tatum’s highs or lows dictating their momentum as was the case in past postseason runs. When Tatum didn’t have it going, the team — Tatum included — battled with Cleveland to find its scoring threats and keep the Cavaliers from pushing forth a competitive bid of their own.
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“It’s really what I’ve been saying all year: we got a really, really talented team,” Tatum said. “It shows the depth of our team and how we can win games in a lot of different ways. It just presents another challenge of what else can you do to impact the game in a positive way.”
