Boston Celtics starting center Kristpas Porzingis was impressed by the incredible coverage work of All-Defensive First Team San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama, who just made his first All-Star team this season. Boston and San Antonio faced off on Wednesday night. Porzingis scored 29 points in the 116-103 victory.
The 7-foot-3 Porzingis was something of a proto-Wembanyama during his New York Knicks-era All-Star prime, as an elite shot blocker who could also spread the floor.
Per Brian Robb of MassLive, Porzingis was especially intrigued by the 21-year-old superstar’s efforts and profile defensively. Wembanyama was limited to 17 points and 13 rebounds in the defeat by one of the league’s best tea defenses in Boston.
“The impact that he has on the defensive end, just with his wingspan and his length is, like, historic,” Porzingis said. “Like, we haven’t seen this, no? So even me, I felt like I need to give him something to get the shot off and, yeah, he’s just a special player.
Porzingis noted that Wembanyama’s efforts in the interior proved incredibly difficult to stop.
“We had a lot of drives — I think that’s maybe partially how people feel around me, but with him I think it’s at a different level,” Porzingis said. “You drive in and you’re just like, OK, boom, kick out and just keep playing. Yeah, special, special player.”
Porzingis did concede that there were similarities between his own “unicorn” game and the two-way play of Wembanyama. This year, Wembanyama is converting 35.2 percent of his 8.8 long range looks a night. Porzingis, meanwhile, is connecting on an elite 40.5 percent of his 6.0 triple tries.
“Something maybe, of course, with the outside game, the shooting,” Porzingis said. “But he’s different. He’s just longer, he’s, I think, defensively, he’s in a different stratosphere. But of course he’s gonna go through, like, some learning too. Like, he’s going through it now… Incredible numbers already, 10 rebounds a game, and three, four blocks. Like, it’s just, he’s in his second year.”
Across 46 contests this season, Wembanyama is averaging 24.3 points on .476/.352/.836 shooting splits, 11.0 rebounds, 3.8 blocks, 3.7 assists, and 1.1 steals a night.
In another era, the two lengthy big men would be restricted to playing near the basket. But in the modern NBA, they’ve been compelled to expand their range beyond the arc.
“I was way, way less advanced than him in my second year,” Porzingis added. “So he’s completely, like, different, 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 has appeared in a scant 29 games for the 39-16 Celtics. He’s averaging a respectable 19.4 points while slashing .480/.405/.822, 7.0 rebounds, 2.0 dishes, 1.6 blocks and 0.8 steals.
