Kristaps Porzingis becoming NBA's best post-up player can be the difference for Celtics in championship run

Kristaps Porzingis becoming NBA’s best post-up player can be the difference for Celtics in championship run

Post-ups are a dying art form in the NBA. The back-to-the-basket attack is reserved only for the most efficient scorers.

For a long time, Kristaps Porzingis was used as an example of a player whose post touches should be limited. His 7-2 height made him an obvious candidate to work down low, but his efficiency was much worse than one would expect.

That’s no longer the case in Boston. He’s transformed into the most efficient post player in the entire league, giving the Celtics some much-needed versatility in their offense.

Here’s how Porzingis’ post play has become a vital part of their team.

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Kristaps Porzingis has gone from a bad post player to an elite one

Porzingis post-ups have a long history of heated debate. Former Mavs coach Rick Carlisle famously refused to use him down low, insisting that the numbers made it a losing proposition.

“The post-up just isn’t a good play anymore,” Carlisle told reporters as part of a long rant in 2019. “It just isn’t a good play. It’s not a good play for a 7-3 guy. It’s a low-value situation.”

Carlisle preferred to play Porzingis out on the 3-point line to maximize Dallas’ spacing around Luka Doncic. At that time, the math showed that to be the correct strategy. Throughout his career with the Knicks and Mavs, Porzingis was not particularly good in the post.

Something changed for Porzingis in Washington and Boston, though. He became wildly efficient, to the point where his post-ups are one of the best plays that Boston’s offense can get.

Statistically, Porzingis is even better than skilled scorers like Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid down low.

The Celtics have the perfect infrastructure to maximize Kristaps Porzingis’ post-ups

There were a bunch of things that changed for Porzingis to turn him into a great post player.

The Celtics have a ton of shooting up and down their roster, making it extremely difficult to bring help when Porzingis gets the ball down low. He has crushed in those one-on-one matchups. Boston has also played him at times with Al Horford, forcing one of those players to be guarded by a smaller defender. That has allowed Porzingis to shoot right over smaller guys.

The Celtics usually play Porzingis with four capable pick-and-roll ball handlers in Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Derrick White and Jrue Holiday. Teams will occasionally try to switch on those plays, and Porzingis has feasted by immediately pinning those guards near the basket.

Porzingis used to battle anyone and everyone down low earlier in his career. In being more selective about matchups, he has made himself a much better post scorer.

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Kristaps Porzingis is elite at drawing fouls

Another thing that was hurting Porzingis’ post-up efficiency earlier in his career was that he didn’t draw a ton of fouls on those plays. He would often settle for fading away rather than trying to aggressively draw contact.

That has completely changed in Boston. Porzingis draws fouls on a third of his possessions from down low, by far the highest total among the 10 players in the league with at least three post-ups per game.

Porzingis has been a great free throw shooter this season as well, hitting 85.7 percent from the line.

The increased efficiency, both in being more selective about his post-ups and trying to get to the line more, are tied into Porzingis’ strong buy-in towards analytics. He’s one of the most numbers-friendly players in the league, crediting Wizards assistant coach Dean Oliver for helping him focus on both of those areas.

It’s no coincidence that Porzingis’ post-ups started to become effective during that time in Washington. He’s taken it to a new level in Boston with better personnel around him.

Kristaps Porzingis post-ups give the Celtics a different look at the end of games

The Celtics’ Achilles heel for years now has been that their offense gets way too stagnant at the end of games. They usually devolve into Tatum pull-up 3s as he winds the clock down in isolations.

Porzingis gives them an option to put some more pressure on the rim. They have utilized that already at the end of games, where he’s been terrific. He saved the Celtics from the embarrassment of breaking the Pistons’ NBA record 28-game losing streak by going to the post over and over and over in a 128-122 overtime win back in December.

The Celtics also went to him in the post to beat the Raptors 108-105 back in November, punishing the switch-everything strategy that teams will often go to at the end of games.

Porzingis has been by far the Celtics’ best player in the clutch. He’s shooting an absurd 70.0 percent from the field in those situations, including 44.4 percent from 3 and a perfect 15-of-15 on free throws.

For a team that has crumbled in some of the biggest moments, Porzingis’ post game is the weapon that they have been missing these past few years. The Celtics shoot a ton of 3s, and his post-ups allow them to put pressure on the rim for a more varied attack. That could make all the difference for them in the playoffs.