Kristaps Porzingis is ‘day to day’ with a ‘serious’ leg injury, per Joe Mazzulla
"He’s doing everything he can to be ready for Game 3."
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 anything and everything he can to be ready for the game tomorrow,” Mazzulla said. “It’s a serious injury and at the end of the day, our medical team is not going to put him in any bad situations. We’ve taken the decision to play out of his hands because of the importance of him. He’s going to do everything he can to play and we’re going to leave it up to our medical team.”
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.
Speaking on Tuesday, Porzingis once again expressed hope that he’ll be good to go for Game 3 on Wednesday night in Dallas.
“It’s going to be day-to-day and see how I am tomorrow,” Porzingis told the media. “And obviously, I’m going to do everything I can to be out there tomorrow and we’ll see. … I’m optimistic. As I said, I will do everything I can to be out there tomorrow.”
Even with Tuesday’s injury news, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski offered a more positive update on X shortly after Porzingis’ media availability.
“As Boston’s Kristaps Porzingis told reporters, he’s determined and expects to continue to try and play with this tendon injury in the Finals,” Wojnarowski posted. “For now, there’s no indication he’ll be ruled out and not permitted to try in Game 3, sources said.”
ESPN’s Malika Andrews also added on X that Porzingis was “walking around with a sleeve on his left ankle, but isn’t limping and seems to be in good spirits” before speaking to reporters.
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. He is averaging 16 points per game while shooting 60 percent from the field over two games against Dallas.
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