Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis will miss the rest of the team’s first-round series against the Miami Heat and likely the start of the Eastern Conference semifinals, if Boston is able to move on.
Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla gave the update Wednesday during an interview with 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Zolak & Bertrand” radio show.
“I don’t know the specifics of it; they use a lot of fancy words. But I do know it will be re-evaluated next week,” Mazzulla said. “We’ll see how he responds to the treatment and how much better he gets here in the first week. That’s kind of the goal is to rehab it like crazy over the next week and see where we’re at from there.”
Porzingis had already been ruled out for Wednesday night’s Game 5 in Boston. The Celtics lead the Heat 3-1. The Athletic also reported Wednesday that Porzingis is “week to week.”
Provided the Celtics move past the Heat, their next series would begin either Sunday or Tuesday against the Cleveland Cavaliers or Orlando Magic. The Cavs lead that series 3-2.
Porzingis was diagnosed with a right soleus strain, the same injury that the Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo sustained near the close of the regular season and has kept him out of the playoffs so far.
In the second quarter of Game 4, Porzingis caught a pass from Jaylen Brown and began to drive before giving it back to Brown and hobbling off the court and into the locker room. It didn’t appear that anybody made contact with Porzingis.
In his first season with the Celtics, Porzingis has been a key piece to the team’s success, averaging 20.1 points and 7.2 rebounds in 57 games in the regular season.
He had seven points and three rebounds in 14 minutes on Monday, dropping his playoff averages to 12.3 points and 5.0 rebounds per contest in the Miami series.
