Celtics makes NBA history with Kristaps Porzingis award
Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis made history this week alongside his talented teammates.
The Boston Celtics have been the best team in the league week in and week out. In fact, they just became the first team ever to have four different guys earn NBA Player of the Week honors in the same season. After Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis was named the Player of the Week on Monday, Boston officially achieved the historic feat, per Celtics in-house writer Taylor Snow. The other three C’s to win this weekly award during the 2023-24 campaign include Derrick White, Jaylen Brown, and Jayson Tatum.
Porzingis averaged 19.8 points, 10 rebounds, and three blocks per game last week, helping the C’s earn a 4-0 record in that time. For the season, he’s averaging 20.2 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks per outing. The Latvian big man is also shooting a career-high 51.8% from the field.
Although Porzingis isn’t averaging career-best marks across the board, he’s fit in Boston’s system nicely and made the Celtics’ starting five one of the most talented groups in the league. Fellow Player of the Week recipients Tatum, Brown, and White are all averaging over 15 points per game as well, and the fifth typical starter, Jrue Holiday, rounds out Boston’s potent rotation with elite defense and timely shot-making.
Celtics starting five has been incredible this season
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Essentially, the balance of Boston’s starting five has allowed them to reach new heights. The Celtics boast the top net rating in the league, are the No. 1 overall seed in the NBA, and are an incredible 15 games ahead of the second-place Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference. That kind of dominance from the C’s hasn’t been seen since the 2007-08 season when Boston won its last championship thanks to the star-studded Big Three of Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett.
At 62-16 overall and four games remaining on the schedule, the current Green Team could still tie the stellar 66-16 regular season record held by the 2007-08 Celtics. But, whether that happens or not, Brown thinks the team should be proud of their success. He discussed Boston’s regular season accomplishments on Sunday night after surpassing 10,000 career points en route to a 124-107 win over the Portland Trail Blazers.
