Kristaps Porzingis becomes latest member of Celtics to win Eastern Conference Player of the Week
BOSTON -- Caring is sharing with this year's Celtics team, and they've made it a point to spread out the Player of the Week love this season. On Monday, Kristaps Porzingis became the fourth different Celtics player to win the award during the 2023-24 NBA season.
Porzingis took home the honors after a dominant first week of April, where he averaged 19.0 points per game off 65 percent shooting overall and 63 percent shooting from 3-point range. He was the only player in the league to average that many points per contest last week, and the only player to average 10.0 rebounds and 3.0 blocks as well. Porzingis led the NBA with a dozen blocks last week, bringing his season total up to 109.
Porzingis' biggest game of the stretch came during a 135-100 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder, where the Unicorn dropped 27 points off 11-for-14 shooting to go with 12 rebounds, four assists, and five blocks. Porzingis became just the second player in Celtics history to amass at least 27 points, 12 rebounds, four assists, and five blocks in a single game since 1974, when blocks became an official stat in the NBA. He also became the first player in Celtics history with at least 10 rebounds, five blocks, and three made three-pointers in a contest.
Most importantly, Porzingis put up those numbers in four Boston wins, helping lead the C's to victories over Charlotte (118-104), Oklahoma City, Sacramento (101-100), and Portland (124-107) over the last week. The Celtics are 62-16 on the season and have already locked up home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.
This is the fourth Eastern Conference Player of the Week award for Porzingis in his career, and his first with the Celtics. Porzingis joins Derrick White (March 25), his good pal Jaylen Brown (March 4), and Jayson Tatum (Nov. 6) as Boston players to win the award this season.
The Celtics are the first team in NBA history to have four different players win Player of the Week in a single season since the award was created in 1979-80.
