Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

Boston Celtics’ Kristaps Porzingis Thinks 22-Point Collapse vs. Cleveland Cavaliers Is ‘Healthy’ — Here’s Why

Originally posted on Hardwood Heroics
By Angelo Guinhawa | Last updated 3/6/24

The Boston Celtics’ 11-game winning streak came to an end in embarrassing fashion after they blew a 22-point lead to the surging Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday. Despite the rather heartbreaking defeat, however, Kristaps Porzingis expressed his belief that it’s actually a good loss.

Porzingis argued that it’s a good loss in a sense that it’s something the Celtics really need as they try to better prepare themselves for the playoffs.

Kristaps Porzingis Happy About Boston Celtics’ Loss

While many were quick to criticize the Celtics for the disappointing showing against an Eastern Conference rival, Porzingis isn’t sweating the loss. Sure, it’s bad optics considering that they were coming off a 52-point blowout of the Golden State Warriors.

Not to mention that the Cavaliers were without the injured Donovan Mitchell, while big man Evan Mobley also left the contest after sustaining an ankle issue.

Porzingis, nonetheless, argued that they needed the loss as a reminder that they still have plenty of work to do. It’s easy to forget your weaknesses and even feel overconfident when your team is winning. So for KP and the C’s, what happened against the Cavs is a good wake-up call.

The Latvian star even described the loss as “healthy” for them.

“It’s healthy for us. We do have the feeling we’re pretty much going to win every game, we’re invincible… a little bit of that feeling is always there, it may be healthy, but it’s also healthy to get a loss here and there,” Porzingis explained, via Noa Dalzell of SB Nation.

What Porzingis just said definitely makes sense. The loss doesn’t take away the fact that they are still the best team in the NBA. Instead, it only shows them what else they need to improve on if they want to be that team that stands at the end of the season.

What Happened To Kristaps Porzingis, Boston Celtics?

Of course it’s also not hard to blame the fans for showing some concern about the Boston Celtics. Losing is one thing, but blowing a massive lead against a team without their best player is definitely discouraging.

The Celtics entered the final period with a 16-point advantage and built their biggest lead of the night (22) early in the fourth with a 93-71 scoreline with nine minutes to go.

However, Boston suddenly disappeared and allowed Cavaliers forward Dean Wade to take over. Wade scored 20 of his 23 points in the final period, fueling a 34-17 Cleveland fourth-quarter run for the 105-104 victory.

Controversies at the end of the game aside, the Celtics can only blame themselves for the loss. Hopefully as Kristaps Porzingis said, they learned their lesson.

This article first appeared on Hardwood Heroics and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: