Kristaps Porzingis has only been a member of the Boston Celtics for a few months, but he already has an opinion regarding how some of his teammates would fare in a potential fight.
Porzingis was asked on Instagram who would win in a fight between Sam Hauser and Payton Pritchard, and the big man provided a pretty detailed answer.
KP goes all-out in his IG Q&As 😂 pic.twitter.com/ULEzpqhnOE
— Taylor Snow (@taylorcsnow) December 6, 2023
According to Porzingis, Pritchard would have the advantage when it comes to heart, tenacity and grappling, but he’s lacking in the reach department. On the other side, Hauser would have the size and reach advantage, per Porzingis.
Ultimately, the Celtics forward thinks the hypothetical fight would be a close one, but he gave the edge to Pritchard.
Hopefully Hauser doesn’t take Porzingis’ pick personally. After all, the Celtics don’t need any locker room drama considering how well they’ve played so far this season. Nearly a quarter of the way through the campaign, Boston sits at the top of the Eastern Conference standings with a 15-5 record.
The Celtics are top 10 in both offensive and defensing rating, and they have the best overall net rating in the league so far this season. They’ve gone a perfect 9-0 at home and an impressive 14-4 against other teams in the conference.
The stellar play of Jayson Tatum has been a major factor in Boston’s early season success. Tatum, who appears well on the way to his fifth straight All-Star appearance, is averaging 27.6 points, 8.9 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.1 steals in 36.6 minutes per performance, while shooting a career high 49.9 percent from the floor.
If Tatum continues to play at an elite level and the Celtics continue their winning ways, he’ll likely find himself right in the thick of the MVP conversation at the end of the season.
The Celtics have a relatively tough stretch of schedule coming up, so it will be interesting to see if they’ll be able to maintain their lead in the conference as the month moves forward. They will host the New York Knicks on Friday night followed by two straight games against the Cleveland Cavaliers and then two straight against the Orlando Magic. All of those games will take place at TD Garden.
After that, the Celtics will travel west for games against the Golden State Warriors, Sacramento Kings and Los Angeles Clippers. They will then square off against LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers on Christmas Day before heading back to Boston.
