Why Kristaps Porzingis is the most important part of the Boston Celtics’ offense

As the Boston Celtics played without star Boston big man Kristaps Porzingis vs. the Los Angeles Clippers at TD Garden this past Saturday evening, the Celtics got a good look at how disorganized they can be against a quality opponent. With the Latvian big man out nursing a sprained ankle sustained against the Miami Heat the game before, Boston was atrocious on offense, held to a season-low of 96 points.

The absence of Porzingis made it easy for Los Angeles to bait the Celtics into the my-turn, your-turn isolation play favored by star Boston forwards Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown when they are under duress.

To try to figure out what went wrong for the Celtics — and to learn more about why KP is among the most important players on the team in these sorts of games — the hosts of the CLNS Media “How Bout Them Celtics!” podcast took a deep dive into Porzingis’ impact on the team.