Takeaways from Warriors' Loss to Celtics: Porzingis' Defense Exposed

Despite a furious Golden State Warriors (29-27) fourth-quarter rally, the Boston Celtics (36-19) held on for a 121-110 win on Thursday at Chase Center.

Before the game, the Warriors announced Stephen Curry (runner's knee) would be re-evaluated in 10 days.

Kristaps Porzingis made his Warriors debut, finishing with 12 points in 17 minutes.

Payton Pritchard had a game-high 26 points, and Jaylen Brown had a triple-double with 23 points, 15 rebounds and 13 assists.

Here are two takeaways from Thursday's game.

Porzingis' Defense Exposed

Porzingis made his first appearance at the start of the second quarter with the Warriors trailing 36-32.

Here were the results of the Celtics' possessions in Porzingis' 4:13 stretch:

- Vucevic three
- Gonzalez three
- Pritchard three
- Pritchard layup
- Gonzalez layup
- Vucevic putback
- Gonzalez missed three
- White missed three
- Vucevic layup

That's 17 points in nine possessions for 1.9 points per possession. Typically, 1.2 points per possession is considered elite offense. Overall, the Celtics outscored the Warriors 17-2 in Porzingis' first Golden State stretch.

Porzingis checked back in for the last 3:14 of the second quarter. Here were the results of the Celtics' possessions:

- Brown missed layup
- Pritchard three
- Pritchard turnover
- Hauser three
- Pritchard three
- Hauser three
- Pritchard jumper

That's 16 points in seven possessions for 2.3 points per possession.

In total, the Celtics scored 33 points in 16 possessions when Porzingis was on the floor in the first half.

Boston did a great job of attacking Porzingis in pick-and-roll coverage or any time he was guarding on the perimeter. The Celtics often play five shooters at the same time, so when the Warriors went to zone defenses to mitigate Porzingis' inability to guard in space, it didn't work.

Porzingis' teams have been better on defense with him on the floor over the last five seasons, per Cleaning the Glass. This one stretch doesn't mean he'll be a defensive liability for the rest of the season.

But it does show how a great offense can take advantage of his biggest weakness.

Green's Starting Status Feeling More Tenuous Than Ever

Draymond Green went 0-of-7 with zero points in 19 minutes. He was a game-worst minus-28.

The Warriors are approaching a difficult decision on whether to continuing starting the four-time champion.

Right now, Porzingis is on a minutes restriction, so he probably won't be starting for at least the next few games. But if he ramps up, he should start eventually.

Steve Kerr has already said he wants to continue starting Gui Santos, who has played most of his minutes at the 4 this season.

In theory, the Warriors could start Porzingis at the 5, Green at the 4 and Santos at the 3, but I'm guessing Kerr would prefer to leave Santos at the 4, which would force Green to the bench.

The Warriors had a similar issue during the 2023-24 season with a different franchise legend. They eventually decided to have Klay Thompson come off the bench for 14 games. That certainly didn't help their chances of keeping him in free agency, and he ended up going to Dallas.

Green could become a free agent at the end of this season if he declines his player option. Perhaps the Warriors will continue to start him to avoid having more contentious offseason contract negotiations.

With that said, Green was open to coming off the bench earlier this season.

The easiest way to end this debate is for Green to play his best basketball of the season moving forward. But for the last few weeks, Santos has outplayed him, and if that continues, we're likely heading toward a Green benching.