Celtics’ Kristaps Porzing returns from injury, makes season debut vs. Clippers

The Boston Celtics are 14-3 after a Sunday afternoon win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. On Monday, news broke that the defending champions would enjoy reinforcements.

Cameron Tabatabaie of CelticsWire was the first to report on Monday afternoon that Kristaps Porzingis will return from injury and make his season debut against the Los Angeles Clippers at TD Garden. ESPN’s Shams Charania confirmed the development a few minutes later. The 7’2″ center missed the start of the season while recovering from offseason foot surgery undergone for the unusual foot injury he suffered in the NBA Finals against the Dallas Mavericks.

The Celtics haven’t missed much of a beat without Porzingis, mirroring their performance without the Latvian big man in last year’s playoffs; Porzing is only eligible for seven games during Boston’s sprint through the postseason gauntlet. The Celtics are in second place in the East just behind the red-hot Cleveland Cavaliers after the first 17 games of the season.

While the Celtics might not necessarily need Porzing is winning games because of the combined All-NBA talents of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, his return is a boon to their hopes of repeating as NBA champions. Boston’s interior defense has suffered greatly without Porzingis’ presence in the paint, and their depth in the middle behind Al Horford has been tested.

Porzingis, 29, averaged 20.1 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.9 blocks in 57 regular-season games for the Celtics last season.