The Boston Celtics announced Tuesday that they will be without big man Kristaps Porzingis for Game 5 of their first-round series against the Miami Heat on Wednesday. During Boston's 102-88 win in Game 4 on Monday, Porzingis exited late in the second quarter with what the team called right calf tightness. He was scheduled to undergo imaging on Tuesday, which seemingly revealed enough of an injury to keep him out for Game 5. The Celtics enter Wednesday with a 3-1 advantage and will try to close out the series at TD Garden.
With this official diagnosis, the good news is it sounds like Porzingis avoided an Achilles injury, which was the primary concern when he originally exited the game. However, Porzingis could miss more time, as ESPN is reporting that he could be out for several games past Wednesday's potential series clincher for the Celtics.
The injury occurred in the second quarter when Porzingis appeared to roll his opposite ankle a few possessions, and was noticeably limping before pulling up with the calf injury.
Kristaps Porzingis actually rolled his ankle and was already limping a couple possessions before his non-contact injury. Here's the sequence: pic.twitter.com/hP6SBlzKok
— Tomek Kordylewski (@Timi_093) April 30, 2024
In the moment, it didn't look great. It was non-contact, and Porzingis had his head buried in his jersey as he limped to the locker room. Following the win, he left the arena is a walking boot.
Kristaps Porzingis heading out of the Kaseya Center with a walking boot on his right foot pic.twitter.com/lUCwjVOE3A
— Josue Pavón (@Joe_Sway) April 30, 2024
At this point it's a big-picture situation for Boston, which, barring a catastrophic collapse, has this Miami series in hand and can begin prioritizing Porzingis' long-term postseason outlook. While Porzingis has experienced rather healthy seasons the last two years, his lengthy injury history does mean that the Celtics will likely exercise some caution going forward.
Given that he could miss more than just Wednesday's game, it's worth questioning whether the Celtics would consider sitting Porzingis for their presumed second-round series against either Cleveland or Orlando. Neither of those teams should be able to threaten Boston even without Porzingis, who becomes a major necessity starting in the conference finals, where, as it looks right now, Boston could face the Knicks. Beyond that, certainly Porzingis would be needed in the Finals should Boston make it that far.
