Kristaps Porzingis only took four shots in Friday’s win over the Nets, but Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla still thought the big man made a valuable offensive impact.

Mazzulla said the best thing that went unnoticed in that win was Porzingis’ screening, which opened up driving lanes and open looks for his teammates. Porzingis may not have been directly involved as he finished with just nine points, but his presence was certainly felt.

The Celtics viewed Porzingis as a critical difference maker this offseason to put them over the top, and as he continues to build chemistry with their core by the day, it’s easy to see why. His mere presence on both ends has made these Celtics more dynamic,

On Saturday, the theme continued. Porzingis was much more involved, scoring 21 points on 14 shots, and he once again helped unlock his co-stars. Jaylen Brown scored 29 points and Jayson Tatum added 27 and the Celtics rode one of their best defensive efforts of the season to a 117-94 over the Raptors at TD Garden.

A year after they went 10-3 on the second night of back-to-backs, the C’s continued their success in the first back-to-back of the season as they thoroughly handled the inferior Raptors in the second half.

The Celtics, after leading comfortably for most of the first half, put away the Raptors in the third quarter with a stretch that had Porzingis’ fingertips all over it.

After leading by nine at halftime, the Celtics went on an 11-2 run at the start of the third, as Porzingis drilled a 27-foot 3-pointer before running free for a pair of dunks that forced Toronto to call an early timeout. The spacing and threat he created opened up the floor for Brown, who scored 12 of the next 15 Celtics points that were sandwiched around another Porzingis 3-pointer.

Porzingis’ alley-oop with 4:27 to go in the third put the Celtics up 24, and they never looked back as their starting five continued to perform as the best unit in the NBA.

The Celtics led by as many as 30 in the fourth quarter, but while Porzingis sat out for the entirety of the final period, Joe Mazzulla was questionably slow to take Tatum and Brown out of the game. After Tatum’s layup with 5:11 to go put the C’s up 27, Mazzulla finally took them out with 4:47 remaining. Tatum finished the game with a plus-42.