Kristaps Porzingis ‘day-to-day’ with a ‘serious’ leg injury

Kristaps Porzingis ‘day-to-day’ with a ‘serious’ leg injury

by




Celtics

“He’s doing everything he can to be ready for Game 3.”

Kristaps Porzingis ‘day-to-day’ with a ‘serious’ leg injury
Kristaps Porzingis played over 20 minutes in Sunday’s Game 2 win over Dallas. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Celtics big man Kristaps Porzingis dismissed many concerns about his health after appearing to tweak something in his leg during Game 2 of the NBA Finals on Sunday night. 

But that optimistic outlook gave way to far more somber news on Tuesday. 

In a team release, the Celtics announced that Porzingis suffered a leg injury in Game 2 that is unrelated to the calf injury that forced him to miss 10 games earlier this postseason. 

“Celtics Center Kristaps Porzingis suffered a torn medial retinaculum allowing dislocation of the posterior tibialis tendon in his left leg at 3:27 of the third quarter of Game 2,” the Celtics wrote in the statement. “The injury is unrelated to Porzingis’ prior right calf injury. After consultation with numerous specialists regarding this rare injury, his availability for upcoming games will be determined day-to-day.”

Speaking on Tuesday in Dallas, Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla admitted that the Celtics are unsure over whether or not Porzingis will be cleared for Game 3 on Wednesday night. 

“He’s doing everything he can to be ready for Game 3. … it’s a serious injury,” Mazzulla said, per MassLive’s Brian Robb. “We are putting it in the hands of our medical staff (whether he will play)”.

Mazzulla’s comments stand in stark contrast to his comments after Game 2, where he noted that there was “zero” concern about Porzingis’ health moving forward. 

“I feel good,” Porzingis said after Game 2. “Obviously, something happened a little bit. But have a couple days again. Believe me, we’ll do everything we can to be back and moving well. … I’ll die out there if we need. Just kept going. Obviously I was a little bit limited, so smart thing was to get Al back in there and close out the game.”

Porzingis has come off the bench in the first two games of the 2024 NBA Finals, scoring 12 points and adding four rebounds over 23 minutes in Game 2.

Even though his minutes have been limited since returning to the court, Porzingis’ energy and ability to impact the game on both sides of the ball has given Boston a significant lift so far in this series.





Source link

Leave a Comment