On Saturday, March 15, Kristaps Porzingis made his return to the Boston Celtics roster. The veteran big man had missed the previous eight games due to a mystery illness. However, he showed very little signs of rust once he was out on the hardwood, scoring his first bucket within a minute of the opening tip.

Porzingis had hoped to return to the Celtics’ lineup sooner than he did. He previously teased on social media that he was going to play in the Celtics’ game against the Lakers on March 8, but he wound up sitting that day.

Kristaps Porzingis returned to the Boston Celtics’ starting lineup Saturday and scored 24 points against Brooklyn after missing the last eight games with an illness