SAN FRANCISCO — Kristaps Porziņģis never imagined it would play out like this. But between Al Horford’s departure to Golden State over the summer, Porziņģis’ health issues in Atlanta, his ensuing trade to the Warriors and the late scheduling of the first Celtics game against Golden State on Feb. 19 — Horford and Porziņģis’ first games against their former Boston team will come as Warriors teammates.
“(It’ll be) weird,” Porziņģis said. “Weird … who would believe this? But this is how it works out. Obviously, we expected Boston to have some changes with the money and stuff, but yeah, it’s gonna be weird. Especially first game back against Boston, too. It’s gonna be cool seeing all the guys again and just going out there and playing, hooping and playing with joy.”
Porziņģis, who’s still recovering from an Achilles injury that kept him out since Jan. 7 with the Hawks, is officially questionable to make his Golden State debut on Thursday, but said he feels good and ready to play. Steve Kerr also pointed toward Porziņģis returning after he practiced on Wednesday. Steph Curry (knee) is out.
Horford looked forward to facing his former teammates and coaches in Boston, and allowing his son Ean to do the same after he became close to the Celtics throughout Horford’s second stint with the team. Ean regularly sat near the bench, handed out towels and celebrated the 2024 championship with the team two seasons ago. Despite that, initial struggles and a sciatica injury earlier this season, Horford and his family have adjusted well to a Warriors team surprisingly 6.5 games behind the Celtics in the standings.
“Probably the most surprising thing has been the growth of Neemy (Queta) and Jordan Walsh,” Horford said. “They have really taken huge steps in their development and how they’re playing and how they’re impacting winning. Overall, it is kind of expected, but I just think that Brad and Joe have done such a good job over there, and it’s something that’s consistent, so I am not surprised.”
Horford, in an interview with the Boston Herald earlier this season, praised Neemias Queta’s growth and success this season as the key to Boston’s success. The Celtics lost Horford, Porziņģis and Luke Kornet last offseason, allowing Queta to become the starting center after sitting and learning behind those three through his first two seasons in Boston. Offseason addition Luka Garza also gave the Celtics productive minutes at the position before Nikola Vučević joined Boston’s big man mix before the trade deadline.
The Warriors traded Jonathan Kuminga for Porziņģis earlier this month after failing to acquire Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jimmy Butler’s ACL tear last month. Porziņģis becomes a free agent this summer after suffering from POTS last postseason with Boston. It also plagued him early this season in Atlanta, where he missed 35-of-52 games with the Hawks between that and his Achilles ailment. Horford also has the option to become a free agent again this summer, or a $6 million opt-in for 2026-27 with Golden State. He told reporters at Wednesday’s practice that he continues to take his career year-by-year ahead of his 40th birthday in June.
Payton Pritchard smiled when asked about facing his former teammates on Thursday morning at the Celtics’ team hotel. He loves the competitiveness of facing former friends and teammates, he said.
“I don’t want to throw some, how is it called, pity party now for myself? It just wasn’t perfect,” Porziņģis said. “I was not feeling well in the playoffs. Then, summertime I got back. I got back, I started to feel good, had a decent EuroBasket and just the beginning of the season, again, wasn’t perfect, then this and that. But I have to roll with the punches. I’ve done it already in my career. I have the experience of this and now I feel like I’m in a good spot. It didn’t work out perfectly in Atlanta, but I’m in a good place now, in good hands and looking forward to building back up from this point on.”
“We (won the championship) once and the second year it didn’t work out perfect,” he said. “But yeah, we had our time there and enjoyed every moment of it and at the end we accomplished the big objective. You know how much I loved playing there, the organization, the front office, playing at TD Garden, the floor, the colors. It’s an iconic franchise, so it’ll always be in my memory as a special time.”
