Kristaps Porzingis, who was traded by the Hawks to the Warriors in exchange for Jonathan Kuminga at the deadline, will make his Golden State debut against the Celtics Thursday.
Kristaps Porzingis, who was traded by the Hawks to the Warriors in exchange for Jonathan Kuminga at the deadline, will make his Golden State debut against the Celtics Thursday.Colin Hubbard/Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO — Former Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis was expected to make his Warriors debut Thursday night against Boston.
Porzingis, who was acquired from the Hawks in a trade-deadline deal for forward Jonathan Kuminga, has been sidelined for more than month due to various injuries and setbacks. But he participated fully in practice Wednesday and declared himself ready. The coincidence of returning against his former team was not lost on Porzingis, who was injured in both of Atlanta’s matchups against Boston.
He caught up with former teammates and team staff during the Celtics’ Jan. 17 visit to Atlanta, but he had yet to take the floor against them since being traded away last summer.
“Weird, weird,” he said when asked about facing the Celtics. “If somebody said that while we were in Boston, this was going to be the scenario, who would believe this? This is how it works out. Obviously, we expected for Boston to have some changes with the money stuff, but it’s going to be weird.
“It’s going to be cool seeing all the guys again and just going out there and hooping and playing with joy.”
Porzingis said he started working back into basketball shape a few weeks ago and feels healthy.
“I feel good on the court and I have done a bunch of work before the All-Star Break and I stayed active and did not take some time off because I’ve barely played this season,” he said. “I want to get out there and feel good and start building on top of this and finish the year really strong.”
Warriors forward Al Horford also made his first appearance against the Celtics since he left in free agency last summer. Horford signed with the Warriors in large part because he viewed it as a better opportunity to pursue an NBA championship.
But the Warriors have been slowed by injuries, most notably Jimmy Butler’s season-ending ACL tear, and entered Thursday just 29-26 and in eighth place in the Western Conference. Horford, meanwhile, is averaging 7.6 points and 4.9 rebounds per game off the bench.
Regardless, the Celtics were eager to reconnect with both former teammates. Guard Payton Pritchard, for one, said the lessons Horford passed down have endured.
“He’s an unbelievable vet, a great teammate, and obviously and unbelievable player,” Pritchard said. “I learned a lot about how he approaches his every day and how he’s been able to last as long as he has in the league.
“There’s a lot of advice, but it’s just really seeing how he moves in his day to day, how he approaches his mindset, his work ethic.”
Pritchard said Porzingis “made the game easy” for teammates during his two seasons with the Celtics.
“He obviously created mismatches and we’ve benefited from that,” Pritchard said. “I just enjoyed being his teammate. He’s a great person and I definitely miss seeing him every day.”
Pair sign 10-day deals
The Celtics signed free agent guard Dalano Banton and two-way contract player John Tonje to 10-day contracts. The Celtics had three open spots on the roster after a flurry of trades prior to the Feb. 5 deadline and needed to fill two by the end of Thursday to reach the league-minimum of 14 players. The moves keep the Celtics below the luxury tax line.
Banton, 26, signed a two-year deal with the Celtics prior to the 2023-24 season and averaged 2.3 points and 1.5 rebound over 24 games before being traded to the Trail Blazers in February 2024.
He played 67 games with Portland last season and signed a10-day contract with the Clippers earlier this month. Tonje was acquired from the Jazz earlier this month in the deal that sent forward Chris Boucher to Utah.
Although two-way contract player Ron Harper Jr. would have been a logical choice to have his deal converted to a standard NBA contract, this is his fourth NBA season so he would command a larger minimum-salary deal that could have pushed Boston above the tax line.
Curry out
Warriors star Stephen Curry missed Thursday’s game due to a left knee injury. Celtics star Jayson Tatum, who practiced with the Maine Celtics last week, remains sidelined as he completes his Achilles rehab.
Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at adam.himmelsbach@globe.com. Follow him @adamhimmelsbach.