Celtics' Porzingis won his unicorn fight against Wembanyama, and then gushed about the Spurs star
BOSTON -- There was a unicorn fight at TD Garden on Wednesday night, as Kristaps Porzingis and Victor Wembanyama went head-to-head throughout the Celtics-Spurs tilt in Boston. The mythical clash went in Porzingis' favor, as he outdueled his 7-foot-3 counterpart and helped lead the Celtics to a 116-103 victory.
While Jayson Tatum led the Celtics with 32 points to go with 14 rebounds, Porzingis had an extremely efficient evening with 29 points off 10-of-16 shooting. He also drained three of his four three-point attempts.
On the other side, Wembanyama mustered only 17 points off 7-of-16 shooting, and was just 1-of-6 from downtown. He did pull down a team-high 13 rebounds, but Wembanyama didn't have his usual impact on both ends of the floor.
Porzingis goes off, Celtics hold Wembanyama in check
Wednesday night was touted as a battle between the 7-foot-2 Porzingis and the 7-foot-3 Wembanyama, and it did not disappoint.
Porzingis went after him early, scoring his first basket on a driving layup by Wembanyama, who was called for a goaltend on the hoop. After the bucket, Porzingis cracked a smile as he made his way down the court.
"Just having fun, just having fun," said Porzingis. "I thought he hit me a little bit too. I was trying to get the foul, and just a little fist pump to celebrate with the fans that I got one over Wemby, and just competing."
Wembanyama still made Porzingis work, as the Boston big man had to deploy a number of up-fakes and pivot moves whenever the two met in the paint. It's not something the towering Porzingis has to do too often, but Wembanyama didn't throw him off too much, as he went 3-of-5 on his shots around the basket.
Wembanyama has averaged nearly four blocks a game this season, but sent back just two Boston shots on Wednesday night. He did change several shots in the paint, but the Celtics took advantage by kicking out and draining threes.
Porzingis wasn't the primary defender on Wembanyama on Wednesday, but switched onto him on a number of occasions and used his length to make life tougher on San Antonio's giant. Al Horford did the bulk of the defensive work on Wembanyama, and more than held his own against a player that is 17 years his junior.
With Horford, Porzingis, and the Boston defense getting physical with Wembanyama, he hit just two of his four layup attempts.
Kristaps Porzingis gushes about Victor Wembanyama
There are a lot of parallels between Porzingis and Wembanyama, as both are extremely athletic and nimble big men who can step back and drain threes. They can both ruin an opposing team's game plan with their tenacious defense in the paint.
While Porzingis got the better of Wembanyama on Wednesday, he had nothing but great things to say about the second-year star after the game. He said Wemby's "historic" wingspan allows him to make a huge impact on the defensive end.
"I think that's maybe partially how people feel around me, but with him, I think it's at a different level," said Porzingis. "You drive in and you're just like, OK, boom, kick out and just keep playing. Yeah, special, special player."
As expected, Porzingis has seen some growing pains from Wembanyama in his second NBA season. But he said the 21-year-old is a lot further along than he was in his second season, especially on the defensive end.
"Defensively, he's in a different stratosphere," Porzingis said of Wembanyama. "But of course he's gonna go through, like, some learning too. He's going through it now and what is he averaging, 24 a game or something? Incredible numbers already, with 10 rebounds a game, and three or four blocks. Like, it's just, he's in his second year.
"I was way, way less advanced than him in my second year. So he's completely different, at a different level, I would say. Most important is that he stays healthy and keeps improving at this rate, and the sky's the limit for him," Porzingis added.
Porzingis and the Celtics will take on Wembanyama and the Spurs on more time in the regular season, on Saturday, Mar. 29 in San Antonio.
