BOSTON — Kristaps Porziņģis didn’t try to sugarcoat what the past year has been like for him as he wrapped up shootaround Wednesday morning ahead of his return game against the Boston Celtics.
“Some of it was good,” Porziņģis said from a courtside chair inside TD Garden, speaking candidly with reporters, “And then, obviously, this season has been pretty s—.”
For the first time since being traded to the Atlanta Hawks last summer, Porziņģis played against the team he helped win a championship for in 2024.
Since then, his career has been turned upside down by injuries — most notably a POTS diagnosis he described in detail to The Athletic’s Fred Katz in October.
Now with the Golden State Warriors, Porziņģis seems to have found his stride again. On Monday, it was via a team-high 30-point performance off the bench in a win over the Washington Wizards. On Wednesday against the Celtics, Porzingis, who received a standing ovation and a tribute video at the end of the first quarter, went just 4 of 13 from the field — but he had shown enough positive signs recently that it felt more like an outlier than a sign of struggles to come.
Over the past few weeks, Porzingis has started to show the organization that he’s the type of player who can work in head coach Steve Kerr’s system.
Health, however, is always hovering over any conversation about his present and future.
Porziņģis missed six games due to illness shortly after being acquired by the Warriors, and while it remains unclear exactly how closely that’s tied to his POTS condition, what is undeniable is how comfortable he is starting to look.
“Now I’m healthy, and now I’m actually feeling good,” Porziņģis said. “I’m getting a real good feeling about basketball again, which is the most important. Because everything else kind of goes into second place when you’re not feeling perfect. It’s just natural I think to feel that way, and now when I’m actually getting my legs back, getting into good shape, it’s a good reminder why I love this. Just enjoying playing again.”
It took a little longer than the Warriors had hoped, but Porziņģis is beginning to prove why the organization believed he could thrive in Steve Kerr’s system. He’s now played in five of the last seven games and is gradually building toward heavier minutes.
“Energy’s getting a lot better,” he said after Monday’s win. “Still working my way back, but I think the way I’m building up and doing more things on the court — crashing a bit more of this, it means I’ve got a little reserve. So, start to build that up. Still only 25, 26 minutes, but honestly was feeling the best so far. With each game, I would say it’s improving.”
He reiterated that feeling after Wednesday’s game — saying he still only feels he’s up to about 60 percent of the player he can be as he continues to build his strength. Porzingis has no doubt that he can be playing at 100 percent again before the season is done.
“I think I’m already now where I can contribute decently,” he said after Wednesday’s game. “But I think like four or five more games — I know I said that three games ago, but four or five more games, and then I feel like I’ll really be close and pretty good shape. Obviously, in the season it’s not ideal, but my overall feel, I see the trajectory now. So, for me, I’m kinda convinced that I’m headed in the right direction.”
The progress has been notable. The Warriors can see not only the difference he’s making when he’s on the floor, but also that he doesn’t look as tired off the floor in between games and workouts.
“He’s just gotten his legs underneath him,” Kerr said Monday. “I know he’s told you guys that over the recent stretch of games, that he felt more comfortable, and he was starting to get his rhythm, and you can see it. He just scores so easily … he’s quite a talent.”
Whether he can sustain that feeling over the final month of the regular season remains to be seen, but it’s clear when he’s playing that he can still help the group in a variety of ways. What Porziņģis also provides is a defensive presence that gives the Warriors a much different look at rim protection. With him on the floor, they came into Wednesday’s game averaging 6.6 blocks per 100 possessions compared to 3.9 blocks per 100 possessions since he made his Warriors debut against the Celtics on Feb. 19, per NBA.com.
The past couple weeks have served as a reminder of how impactful Porziņģis can be, not just for this recent stretch but also for his future. Health questions haven’t gone away, but Porziņģis’ play — and availability — has changed the narrative about the trade again.
He knows there’s still another level for him to hit, but he’s confident that he can get there over time.
“I still got to be a little lighter on my feet for sure,” Porziņģis said Monday. “But I’m moving better — I can feel it. I’m moving a little better. But yeah, I’ve still got a pretty good way to go I would say. But with each game, a little step forward, and I’ll be all right.”
In a quirky part of the schedule, one which Kerr coined the “Kristaps Porziņģis’ reunion tour,” the Warriors are playing every single one of Porzingis’ old teams on their current six-game trip, including stops in New York, Washington, Boston, Atlanta and Dallas.
After Wednesday’s game, Kerr spoke with some frustration with the way the third game of the tour unfolded. It wasn’t frustration directed at Porzingis — more at the idea that the veteran coach felt his group had a mental letdown as it continues to play out the schedule waiting for Stephen Curry (runner’s knee) and several other players to return from injury.
Man of the people 🙌 pic.twitter.com/XiDiv1APU4
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) March 18, 2026
“What I’m most interested in right now is can we prepare ourselves for the Play-In?” Kerr said after Wednesday’s loss to the Celtics. “We’re gonna be in the Play-In, we know that, one way or another. So, we got to prepare. We have to be prepared for when we get guys back. When Steph’s back and Moses and Al. If we’re prepared when we get back, we can do some damage, we can go on a run. But we can’t have game-plan mistakes. We’ve got to build better habits.”
Kerr and his players are confident they can still do that with 13 games left to go before the Play-In tournament begins. The belief remains because Curry, who went through a shooting routine for about 30 minutes before Wednesday’s game and is starting to do a little more on the floor as he tries to return, is getting closer to returning. Everything in the organization revolves around Curry — his presence provides hope for the rest of the group, provides hope at all times, but one of the main reasons the Warriors are excited to get him back on the floor is to see how he looks with Porziņģis.
For his part, Porziņģis is taking the ups and downs that have come with his short tenure with the Warriors, in stride.
He enjoyed catching up with some of his former Celtics teammates on Wednesday. He said he “loved his time” in Boston, but has reiterated several times how much he has liked getting to know more about his Warriors teammates and how much he’s looking forward to playing with Curry.
As he looks ahead, he also isn’t surprised by the success that the core of his Celtics team of the past has had this season, despite questions around Jayson Tatum’s injury and roster turnover.
“It was a good situation for them to be in, in a way,” Porziņģis said before the game. “Like everybody would say, ‘The Celtics are gonna be a lottery team.’ I think one, it puts an extra motivation, a chip on your shoulder, and two, you have no expectations at the same time. So, it’s like a perfect situation, and they’re kinda using that to the maximum. I think Joe (Mazzulla) is turned up a few more levels of craziness probably with the young guys, and he’s squeezing everything he can out of them. And look at that group — they’re playing super well.”
Porziņģis understands the feeling. Because finally, for the first time in a while, his body is allowing him to play well, too.