BOSTON -- As soon as his 7-foot-3-inch frame plummeted to the parquet court Wednesday night in Boston, Kristaps Porzingis immediately placed both hands on the gnarly gash across his split-open forehead, seemingly trying to plug a wound that would soon require five stitches.
Then, the Boston Celtics center wanted to survey the damage. Porzingis lifted his hands, now wet from the wound, and as blood began pooling on his face and rushing in fast-moving streaks down the back of his skull, he looked up at the red gore that coated his palms and fingers.