Kristaps Porzingis of the Celtics returns from injury and makes his season debut against the Clippers

The Boston Celtics are 14-3 after a win Sunday afternoon over the Minnesota Timberwolves. On Monday it was announced that the defending champions would be happy to receive reinforcements.

Cameron Tabatabaie of CelticsWire was first to report Monday afternoon that Kristaps Porzingis will return from injury and make his season debut against the Los Angeles Clippers at TD Garden. ESPN’s Shams Charania confirmed the development a few minutes later. The 7’2″ center missed the start of the season recovering from offseason foot surgery he underwent due to the unusual foot injury he sustained in the NBA Finals against the Dallas Mavericks.

The Celtics haven’t missed much without Porzingis, reflecting their performances without the great Latvian in last year’s playoffs; Porzingis appeared in just seven games during Boston’s sprint through the postseason. The Celtics are second in the East after the first 17 games of the season, just behind the red-hot Cleveland Cavaliers.

While the Celtics might not necessarily need Porzingis will win games thanks to the combined All-NBA talents of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. His return is a boon to their hopes of repeating as NBA champions. Boston’s interior defense has suffered greatly without Porzingis’ presence and their strength at center behind Al Horford has been tested.

Porzingis, 29, averaged 20.1 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.9 blocks in 57 regular-season games for the Celtics last season.