Getty Image / Sean Gardner
The Boston Celtics have been the NBA’s best team all season long. A big part of that has been offseason acquisition Kristaps Porziņģis.
If the team is going to win its first NBA Championship since 2024, Porzingis is going to be a big reason why. Sadly, he may not be available for much of the playoffs after a scary lower leg injury in game 4 against the Miami Heat on Monday.
Late in the second quarter with the Celtics rolling, Porzingis came up lame on what looked to be a pretty routine play.
Take a look.
Awful. Kristaps Porzingis has been so awesome all year for the Celtics. pic.twitter.com/OvQmLwnkha
— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) April 30, 2024
Porzingis had rolled his ankle a few possessions before, as well. That could’ve contributed to the injury happening.
Awful. Kristaps Porzingis has been so awesome all year for the Celtics. pic.twitter.com/OvQmLwnkha
— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) April 30, 2024
Simply put, the Celtics cannot afford to lose him for a long period of time. He had a career resurgence of sorts this year in Boston, averaging 20.1 points per game on very good shooting splits while protecting the rim and rebounding well. If the Celtics have a weakness, it’s depth in the front court. Luke Kornet could be forced into playing a lot more minutes.
Thankfully, it appears that Porzingis has avoided the very worst.
Boston Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis (right calf) will undergo imaging on Tuesday but early indications are that he hasn’t sustained an Achilles injury, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 30, 2024
Still, if it’s a calf strain, that could be bad news and could keep him out up to a month as the Celtics push for an NBA Championship.
The Celtics, up 2-1 in the series, were in command of game 4 as of publishing.