Boston Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis made his season debut in Monday night's 126-94 loss to the LA Clippers.
Porzingis had 16 points in nearly 22:37 minutes in his return. Al Horford (illness) and Luke Kornet (hamstring) both missed the game.
Porzingis has been making rapid improvements in his recovery from foot surgery in late June, completing scrimmages in recent weeks of practices with the Celtics and their NBA G League affiliate, Maine.
"He has worked hard, he's in good shape. We'll put him in position to be healthy and be successful and do what's best for the team," Mazzulla said. "He's been pretty consistent, just based on his work ethic and what he's done to get to this point."
Porzingis had surgery to fix a tear in the tissue that holds the ankle tendons in place. The issue limited him to seven playoff games during the Celtics' NBA championship run last season.
The Celtics set metrics for Porzingis to reach throughout his rehab process, making sure he had balance in his body to supplement the healing of his leg injury from last season. The original window for Porzingis' return following surgery was five to six months; he made his return in just under five months.
Porzingis arrived to the Celtics in a 2023 offseason trade and become an NBA champion for the first time in dramatic fashion last season. He came back from a calf strain in the first round of the playoffs to play in three games in the NBA Finals, including Game 5 after suffering his rare tendon injury in Game 2.
Porzingis averaged 20.1 points, 7.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.9 blocks per game last season.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.