OKLAHOMA CITY – Kristaps Porzingis flashed a grimace, ever so slightly, as he sat in the visiting press conference room at Paycom Center and gave an honest assessment of his performance on Saturday night.
After not playing for over two weeks as he recovered from a mysterious illness, running up and down the court for 23 minutes in the Warriors’ 102-97 loss to the Thunder took its toll on the 30-year-old center.
“My legs feel heavy. I’ll probably watch the film and be disgusted by how I moved,” Porzingis said. “But I’ll get there. I’ll get my legs under me and move the way I want to and open my lungs up more and get cardio in. There’s no other way to get it than just by playing.”
The stat sheet – 3 of 9 shooting, nine points, five rebounds, five assists and a block – did not tell the story of his night.
But it did display signs of a potentially impactful big man who was playing only his second game with the team since he was acquired Feb. 5 from the Hawks for Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield.
He drew multiple fouls in the post. He flashed rim protection alongside Draymond Green and Al Horford in super-sized lineups. He made nifty passing reads in Golden State’s motion offense. He gave coach Steve Kerr a bonafide force on the low block.
“You can see what kind of weapon he is, and the kind of size he gives us,” Kerr said. “We’re just figuring out combinations and actions we want to run with him, and for him, so we’ll take a little time, but really encouraging to see him out there.”
And in between the highlights and the just-as-plentiful lowlights was a sense of relief.
“The most important thing is that I’m feeling good, and that’s just giving me peace of mind,” he said. “I’m ready to move forward.”
Porzingis was not too keen to describe what gave him and the team confidence that he could stay healthy down the stretch of a season that now has only 19 games remaining.
The Celtics’ doctors diagnosed him with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) in the summer, a condition that is marked by chronic fatigue and frequent illness, and has no known cure.
Was the sudden illness that befell him on Feb. 22, and then again flared up on Feb. 28 right before the Lakers game, related to POTS? Porzingis would not say, instead pushing the focus to the future.
“This summer, I was already fine,” Porzingis said. “I don’t want to go too much into it, but I’m happy that I’m feeling good now, and I really believe, really, really believe that I will be healthy in terms of that, with the energy.”
During that absence, Kerr told local radio station 95.7 The Game that Hawks’ general manager Onsi Saleh told him that Porzingis did not actually have POTS.
Kerr later walked those comments back. Porzingis assured reporters that he held no negative feelings toward Kerr for that, even though it was an annoyance for a moment.
“It wasn’t ideal, because it put something out again so people could start talking about this,” Porzingis said. “But I told Steve it’s ok, and I know you didn’t mean to create hype around my health. He just said whatever he knew at the moment.”
Though Porzingis missed six games and remained away from the Warriors for their road trip to New Orleans and Memphis, he made an impression on his teammates whenever he was around.
Though he was unable to practice until Thursday before the win at Houston, Porzingis did the opposite of throwing himself a pity party.
The team’s heart and soul noticed.
“We’re not an organization to walk around and look at guys like “Man, this guy might be ready” or “Why is he not out there?” We don’t do that, and you’re never going to feel any pressure as far as getting on the court. That’s not who we are and how we operate,” Green said.
“He’s not a guy who walks around and wants you to see he’s not feeling well. . He walks in with the same attitude, upbeat, same spirit, and you can appreciate that.”
Porzingis singled out Green as a teammate who has helped him acclimate to the Warriors’ locker room since he joined the team a month ago.
When Porzingis checked out of Saturday night’s game following his first short four-minute stint off the bench in the first quarter, he made a bee-line to Green.
The two talked for almost a minute, Porzingis listening as Green pointed out various actions and reactions he had observed from the sidelines.
“Whenever I have a question, he’s the guy that can give me some good insight on what we want,” Porzingis said.
While Green gave him instant advice, Kerr was devising ways to get Porzingis involved. The Hall of Fame coach flooded the playbook with postups – many seeing Green throw the entry pass – against an undersized Oklahoma City front line.
Those plays had Green dreaming of what could be if – or when – Steph Curry returns from his bout with runner’s knee.
“Very useful, especially when Steph’s out there, because he’s going to take two people out of the play,” Green said. “So when you can get those advantages, create those advantages, people will help more and more.”
Even without Curry, Porzingis earned six free throws by overpowering his defenders, but rust showed when the career 84% foul shooter bricked half of them.
The distance shooting as a whole was obviously and understandably rusty, and it showed when Porzingis whiffed on all three of his 3-point attempts.
Kerr did his best to keep Porzingis fresh, playing him in short four-minute bursts followed by equally-long stints on the bench.
But as Porzingis said, the only way he can build that stamina is by playing. Of course, the Warriors will remain cautious with his return.
Kerr already said Porzingis will not play on Monday in Utah, saving him for Tuesday’s second night of the back-to-back in the Bay Area against the Bulls.
Porzingis believed it will only get better from here on a team clinging to the eighth seed with a 32-31 record.
“I need to feel good to play, and I feel like from this point on, I’m just building on top of this,” Porzingis said.
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