Celtics-Nets notebook: Kristaps Porzings tells all on illness battle, Payton Pritchard talks new NBA record

BROOKLYN — No one knows how to return from an extended absence quite like Kristaps Porzingis. The Latvian star — who cemented his place as a Celtic legend with an electric first-quarter performance in Game 1 of the NBA Finals — once again showcased his uncanny ability to come back from an extended absence and seemingly not miss a beat.

Porzingis, who missed the previous eight games with an unidentified non-COVID respiratory illness, returned Saturday night to face the Nets and exploded for a game-high 24 points, on 9-16 shooting. He was also finished with a team-best +/- of +13 in his 32 minutes. The Celtics defeated the Nets 115-113 after leading by double-digits for most of the night.

“It just shows the skillset that he has,” Payton Pritchard said of Porzingis’s seamless return. “He’s a unicorn. He’s an unreal player.”

Everyone was happy to see Porzingis back in action. Joe Mazzulla commended him for working hard to stay in shape through the illness, and for keeping a positive mindset throughout the various ailments that have kept him off the court this season.

“I think he’s dealt with it in a great way,” Mazzulla said. “When he’s able to play, he always plays, and when he’s not, he does the necessary steps — whether it’s in the weight room, on the court, in the training room –— to put himself in position to play.”

“He has a great attitude about it. Just kind of has an understanding. As the team knows, he’s a huge part of what we do, and we know he need him at his best — and he’s just got to continue to do that. But I appreciate his optimism that he has, even when it doesn’t go his way.”

Porzingis’s strong return game wasn’t the night’s only story, but he was the main one.

Here’s everything that stood out Celtics-Nets from on the ground in Brooklyn.

Kristaps Porzingis (finally) details battle with upper respiratory illness

On Saturday, his status on the injury report was upgraded to probable for the first time in more than two weeks, and he finally made his long-awaited debut.

After his return, reporters crowded around his locker, eager to hear more about what the previous few weeks entailed.

“It was extremely, extremely frustrating, just not knowing what I had,” Porzingis said, noting it ultimately ended up being some sort of upper respiratory illness that turned into bronchitis.

“I haven’t been this sick, probably ever in my life.”

Part of the reason Porzingis’s injury status continued to fluctuate from questionable, to doubtful, to out, was because even once he was on the mend, he dealt with lingering fatigue that significantly worsened after workouts.

“For a week, [I was] really just laying at home, trying to recover,” he recalled. “And then after that, I still had lingering fatigue. And, I still have it a little bit, but at least now, I’m getting into, more or less, shape to be able to play. But yeah, after each workout, I was — boom, big crash. So, I was really, really fatigued. Not normal.”

The crash was especially severe on March 8th, when the Celtics were set to face the red-hot Lakers. The day prior, Porzingis tried to push himself with a hard workout, intending to prepare for the primetime matchup. On that Friday, he even responded to a fan’s comment on Instagram, confirming he was going to play.

But, when he woke up on the morning of Celtics-Lakers, he felt terrible.

“The crash I had was, like, historic,” he said. “The next day, I couldn’t even get out of bed to go to shootaround. So, I was like, ‘Okay, now I’m gonna lay down, try to get some more rest, and maybe I can get going for the night.’ And then I went to the arena, I tried to get some shots up, and I was just so fatigued. I was like, ‘I’m not gonna be a help out there. I’m gonna just hurt the team if I push myself.’”

He ended up missing three more games after that before finally being healthy enough to go on Saturday. He said he was expected to play around 20 minutes against the Nets — but he ended up playing 32, including the entire fourth quarter.

“Joe told me, like, mid-fourth, he’s like, ‘I’m not gonna take you out. So, just bite down and let’s go,’” Porzingis recalled. “[I said], ‘Okay, let’s go.’ Got some sugar in my system, and just pushed through and played, what, 31, 32 minutes?”

Despite his on-court production, Porzingis said he didn’t feel perfect on Sunday, but he had mentally committed to playing.

“As the game went on, I felt better and better,” he said, adding he felt himself crashing in the third before a great final period. “It was a close one, but I’m happy we got it done.”

Porzingis also explained his thought process regarding his now-infamous tweet

Speculation ran wild throughout Porizngis’s two-week absence. Mazzulla kept things brief, as he usually does when it comes to injury reports, simply stating that the big man was sick and working hard to get better. And, the Celtics simply listed Porzingis as questionable or doubtful with non-COVID illness, depending on the game.

So, seeing that fans online were getting increasingly agitated at his string of absences, Porzingis opted to turn to social media to share what had been going on.

“I have been dealing with some viral illness that we haven’t been able to fully identify yet,” he wrote on March 10th, in the middle of the second quarter of a game between the Celtics and the Jazz. “I am recovering and getting better. But still working my way back to full strength to help this team. Thanks for support and I’m hoping for a healthy return soon.”

On Saturday, he elaborated on why he shared that update with Celtics fans.

“I was getting a lot of questions. I saw it on social media and stuff — people want to know what’s going on, why I’m out for so long,” he said. “Obviously, it was frustrating for me — [I’m just] illness (out), illness (out). Like, ‘c’mon this guy can’t play through some illness?’ I would think that. I just wanted to let people know that I was really, like, dealing with something. I would never sit out for a cough or something.”

Porzingis said he was grateful for all the love he received from fans after that post: “I always appreciate the support that I get from Celtics fans and from fans back home.”

Payton Pritchard’s Sixth Man of the Year season continues with new NBA record

On Sunday, Pritchard set a new record for most threes off the bench by an NBA player in a single season, shooting 5 of 8 from three en route to a record 220 threes on the season. The previous record-holder was Wayne Ellington, who made 218 three-pointers in the 2017-18 season.

Pritchard, who finished the game with 22 points on 7-11 shooting, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals, was business-as-usual postgame when asked about the achievement.

“It just means I did my job off the bench at a high level, and hopefully I can continue to do that,” he said.

Jayson Tatum expressed his congratulations to his longtime teammate.

“Anytime you hold a record in the NBA — regardless of whatever it is — it’s special,” he said. “I’m happy for him. He works really, really hard. Everybody knows that. His ability to stretch the floor and take over in stretches, sometimes, really helps us. It helped us win a championship. We’re very, very lucky to have him.”

Mazzulla commended Pritchard for his number of timely shots and offensive rebounds. The backup point guard scored the Celtics’ final 6 points and helped stave off a late Nets rally by hitting 3 of 4 free throws in the final 9 seconds.

“His competitive nature and work ethic is unreal,” Mazzulla said. “That’s an awesome thing. It takes a special person to fulfill that role, and he takes pride in it and does it every day.”

Jrue Holiday the point guard?

With Derrick White sidelined with a left knee contusion, Holiday had his best playmaking game of the season just one night after his best scoring game of the season; he finished Saturday’s contest with 11 points and 12 assists, the most dimes any Celtic has amassed in a single game this season.

Mazzulla described the 34-year-old’s performance as “big-time.”

“He can anticipate where the help is coming from,” he said. “He can anticipate what the defensive coverage is, and he just has a knack for making two-on-one reads.”

Jaylen Brown leaves midway through the third quarter with back spasms

Brown missed Friday’s game against the Heat due to a right knee patellar impingement but left Saturday’s game for a different reason: low back spasms. Brown finished the night with 8 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists in 25 minutes, and was not in the locker room by the time it opened to the media postgame.

The Celtics face the Nets again on Tuesday

The Celtics are off Sunday and Monday — but return to action on Tuesday, when they host the Nets back at TD Garden. The Celtics nearly blew a 21-point lead in this one, and will need to be more detail-oriented in the upcoming rematch.

“They play hard,” Tatum said. “They’re well-coached. They do a lot of different things. The guys that they sub in — they cut, they play off the ball, they play unselfish.”

Tuesday’s Nets game is the Celtics’ lone home game before a six-game Western Conference road trip that includes stops in Utah, Portland, Sacramento, Phoenix, San Antonio, and Memphis.