The Boston Celtics updated their injury report for Kristaps Porzingis and inserted him into their lineup for the first time this season.

It was somewhat surprising to see the Celtics update his injury tag. It was 12:09 PM when it changed from “OUT” to “PROBABLE” and then at 5:38 PM it was changed to “AVAILABLE” and he started.

Porzingis had surgery on June 27 to repair the torn medial retinaculum with a timeline of 5-6 months of recovery before returning to the court, which brings him to a November or December return for the Celtics.

During the offseason, Porzingis was focused on his recovery. He said that he couldn’t put any weight on his ankle during the first four to six weeks after surgery, saying he had to use a scooter to get around and couldn’t use the stairs.

Porzingis also spent a majority of time back in Latvia, where he trained both on and off the court, physically and mentally to help prepare for the season ahead.

When Porzingis returned to Boston, he was in the background doing his own work as he was still uncleared to practice with the team or do any physical work on the court.

In September, Celtics president of basketball operations, Brad Stevens, shared an update on Porzingis, saying that he was a little surprised with the progress Porzingis made.

“I don’t know that we’re interested in putting a timeline on him, because the injury is unique, but as far as how he feels and the progress that he’s made, I’d say we’re very, very pleased with where he is and maybe a little surprised.”

In October, Porzingis was seen doing his own on-court work during pregame as early as the preseason in Abu Dhabi with the Celtics. He did it again throughout the preseason and into the regular season.

During Media Day, Porzingis told Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston that he’s going to play as soon as he’s cleared and there isn’t anyone that can hold him back.

In the second week of November, just last week to be exact, the Celtics invited the Maine Celtics to practice at the Auerbach Center with Porzingis and Xavier Tillman to give him more of a live run against players.

This drew in a big crowd from Boston’s front office, medical staff, players, and other team personnel.

Between Stevens and the rest of the staff in attendance for the practice on the upper level balcony, it’s fair to say that a lot of decisions were likely made at this time to solidify when he should return.

After all of the work Porzingis has done since having surgery in June to practicing with the G League team in November, the next step is for him to get back on the court with the Celtics to see how it goes- and it went well.

Porzingis finished with 16-points on 6-of-12 shooting from the floor with six rebounds, two assists, two blocks, and one steal in 23-minutes in his debut. The Celtics defeated the Clippers 126-94, it was the largest margin of victory (32-points) Boston had all season.

One last note, it’s worth mentioning that the Celtics have three days off before their next game on Friday. This could be a contributing factor to him returning on Monday so that he can have more than a normal rest period in between games.

The Celtics are a more complete team with Porzingis healthy and on the court, which is pretty scary for the rest of the NBA, as Boston went 14-3 without Porzingis to start the year.

Boston has the cheat-code back.

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Photo Credit: Brian Fluharty, NBAE Getty Images