With injuries, Porzingis is never able to have a break. Ten games were missed by Porzingis following a calf injury he sustained in Game 4 of the Boston Celtics’ first-round series against the Miami Heat. He was forced to sit on the bench as the Celtics secured their ticket to the NBA Finals.
Despite playing in the first two NBA Finals games against the Dallas Mavericks and contributing significantly off the bench, it was recently discovered that Porzingis had a ruptured medial retinaculum, which resulted in the dislocation of his left leg’s posterior tibialis tendon.
The Celtics’ medical staff ultimately decided to keep the great big man out of the lineup for Boston’s 106-99 Game 3 triumph in Dallas on Wednesday due to this extremely uncommon leg issue. With Porzingis’ status very much uncertain for the remainder of the series, some light was shed on his possible return.
The Athletic’s Shams Charania reports that Porzingis might make a comeback for Game 4 on Friday night after the team defeated the Mavericks 3-0 in the series and are now only one game away from a championship.
“Kristitaps Porzingis might play in Game 4,” Charania said on FanDuel’s Run It Back program on Thursday morning. “He is exercising and staying active. He exercised yesterday. The medical staff of the Celtics just did not think he would be prepared for a game-like setting, but he did train and is anticipated to perform better today.
In the two Finals games he has participated in, Porzingis was a major contributor. In Game 2, Porzingis rebounded from his 20 points off the bench in Game 1 with a 12-point, two-block effort.
He has demonstrated that he is Boston’s key X-factor, not Should Porzingis be able to make a comeback, the Celtics would be in a stronger position to defeat the Mavericks and win their 18th team championship. Since the Golden State Warriors defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2018 NBA Finals, no team has defeated a rival team four times in a row.
This is something the Celtics might very well do with Porzings on the court.
In the first quarter of Wednesday night’s Game 3 in Dallas, the Celtics were down by as many as 13 points. In the end, they managed to calm down and convert a one-point disadvantage at halftime into a 21-point advantage in the second half.
However, Luka Doncic and the Mavs went on a run after it seemed like they were on cruise control approaching the finish line. The third quarter saw the Celtics’ lead shrink from 21 points to 15 points, and the final quarter saw that lead whittled down to just six points over the course of five minutes.
Boston held on to take a commanding 3-0 series lead despite Dallas coming on strong and appearing to steal a win. The Celtics’ depth allowed them to secure this crucial victory even without Porzingis. Both clubs have a great deal of talent, in my opinion.
Therefore, I believe that talent is required to reach this level. In his postgame remarks, head coach Joe Mazzulla stated, “That’s a given if you want to make it this far.” But our guys understand exactly how we should be playing, taking shots, and giving up shots because they have a high basketball IQ. They are aware of our specific absences from that behavior.
The Celtics’ offensive game did seem a little off at times when Porzingis wasn’t playing. The Mavericks took advantage of their lack of rim protector in the paint early on in the game by going to the rim and lobbing passes to Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively II.
Ultimately, the Celtics’ skill set won out, and they are extremely confident going into Friday night’s Game 4. For Mazzulla, throughout the course of the next 48 hours, the message of remaining tuned in and realizing that the series is not quite done will resound.
The expected must be anticipated. You have to realize that we are as vulnerable as they are, if not more so. And that’s how we have to play,” Mazzulla added. Therefore, as long as we maintain that frame of mind and you realize that you’re defenseless and that the wall is against you, you must fight.
“That’s the attitude we need to adopt.”