Celtics teammates Kristaps Porzingis, left, and Jaylen Brown have developed a chemistry on and off the court in their first season together. Associated Press photos
Jaylen Brown and Kristaps Porzingis’ chemistry is growing on and off the court.
The Celtics stars live in the same building in Boston, and Brown has been able to get to know his new teammate pretty well.
“It’s been a joy,” Brown said. “We live in the same building, so I’ve been able to spend some time riding back from the airport with him or whenever. KP is hilarious. He’s funnier than you probably all think, but he’s a good guy.”
“Every time he sees you, he winks at you,” Brown elaborated with a smile. “(I’m like), ‘What are you winking at me for, man?’ But KP is a smooth guy.”
Their connection seems to be translating to the court. Entering Monday’s game against the Knicks, Brown and Porzingis had played 241 minutes together, the third-most of any two-player combination on the Celtics. In those minutes, the duo had an offensive rating of 121.0 and a net rating of 19.3. Their prolific two-man game was on display in Saturday’s win over the Raptors during a dominant third quarter, when they combined to score 26 of the Celtics’ 33 points that included several easy buckets in pick-and-roll actions.
“We’ve been able to develop some actions that have been pretty good,” Brown said. “(Teams) gotta make a choice between stopping me or stopping him, and you guys have seen a little bit of that.”
Porzingis thinks he and Brown are just getting started.
“It’s just going to get so much better,” Porzingis said. “Like, I’m telling you, you’re just going to see, like it’s going to get a lot better. But I love playing with him. He creates a lot of situations, he draws a lot of attention and it’s just opened things up for myself, for everyone else.”
HOLIDAY MILESTONE: When Jrue Holiday rose up and nailed a 3-pointer late in the third quarter Monday, the Celtics guard hit a significant milestone: 15,000 career points in the NBA.
The bucket came with 11 seconds left in the third quarter of the Celtics’ 114-98 win over the Knicks. Holiday entered the game needing just nine points to get to the 15,000-point mark. But after the game, Holiday said he didn’t know he was nearing the milestone and downplayed the accomplishment.
“It’s cool, you know?” Holiday said. “It means that I’ve played long enough. I played for a long time. But it’s cool. I didn’t know it was coming. I should probably tune in a little better. It’s always good to get it when you win.”
Holiday added he likely wouldn’t feel much pressure about hitting that scoring mark. The 33-year-old has played in plenty of games throughout his 15-year NBA career. He was selected 17th overall in the 2009 NBA Draft by the Sixers. Since then, he’s also played for the Pelicans, Bucks and now Celtics for a total of 916 career NBA games.
Holiday, of course, has accomplished plenty in his career. He’s a two-time All-Star, including last season with the Bucks. Naturally, he said the best part about his career has been all the winning, notably the 2021 title he earned in Milwaukee.
Holiday has been impressive in his short time with the Celtics, making plenty of winning plays on both ends of the court. He’s matched up against bigs like Julius Randle and Joel Embiid recently, showcasing his defensive versatility. Holiday is a huge part of the puzzle, who are trying to return to the NBA Finals.
“I think we have such a talented group of guys that it’s not really on me or Jayson (Tatum) to get them going, or (Jaylen Brown),” Holiday said. “I think just based on the way we play and the character that we have and IQ we have, it just happens. You see Sam (Hauser) coming off the bench throwing up 3s and they’re going in and then picking up full court and making a difference.”
TATUM ENTERED Monday game – with the help of a plus-42 in Saturday’s win over the Raptors – leading the NBA in plus/minus by a significant margin. Tatum’s plus-166 was well ahead of the next best, Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards, who had a plus-121.
“I just try to make good things happen when I’m on the floor, play right away, and try to impact winning. I don’t necessarily think about plus/minus, I just try to go out there every time I’m on the floor and do the things that help us win. So hopefully I can keep that up because that means I’m doing something right.”
NOTES: Celtics big man Neemias Queta was out for a 10th game to start the season as he continued to recover from a foot injury. He was participating in some light shooting drills at Monday’s shootaround. … The Celtics honored late executive Heather Walker on Monday by naming their media center at the Auerbach Center after her. Walker died in April after battling glioblastoma, a rare form of brain cancer, for almost two years. Walker, who was the Celtics’ vice president of public relations, was a fixture inside the organization
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