Kristaps Porzingis has been dealing with illness ‘on and off’ since March return, Mazzulla says
Porzingis left Monday's game with a non-COVID illness. He's been fighting through symptoms for months, the coach said.
Back in March, Kristaps Porzingis announced that he was dealing with an unidentified viral illness. He returned on March 15 after missing eight games.
Fast-forward to Monday night’s loss to the Knicks in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. Porzingis left the game with a non-COVID illness after just 13 scoreless minutes on the floor.
Mazzulla initially said he had “no idea” if the illness that caused Porzingis to leave Monday’s game was connected to the one that caused him to miss time a few months ago.
A few minutes later, after he was pressed further, Mazzulla said that Porzingis had been dealing with the sickness for a while.
“Since he came back, I think he’s kind of been dealing with it on and off, fighting through it, working through it, doing the best that he can and I think it was just too much for him in that game.
“I didn’t know that was going to happen until I found out about it in that game. He had been working through it since he’s gotten back and he’s done a great job of being available. It was just tough for him to continue yesterday, so we’ll see how he handles that.”
Mazzulla said Porzingis’s status is day-to-day. The Celtics will tip off Game 2 of the series against the Knicks Wednesday night.
“He’s a little bit better,” Mazzulla said. “We’ll see how he feels.”
This season marked the first time since 2022 that Porzingis averaged fewer than 20 points per game. He missed 40 of the Celtics’ 82 regular-season games with a variety of ailments, including an ankle injury that required offseason surgery.
Porzingis has played in all six of the Celtics’ playoff games so far, but he is shooting 11.8 percent from 3-point range and his scoring average has dipped to 10 points per game.
Both Mazzulla and Jrue Holiday said after the game that the Celtics missed Porzingis on the floor during the second half of the loss to the Knicks.
“KP is big for us. Obviously, he is so versatile,” Holiday said. “A person who can play in the paint or stretch the floor, protects the floor protects the rim, blocks shots. We definitely miss him but we’ve always had this next man up mentality. Until we know what’s up with KP we’ll have to have that same mentality.”
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com