The Boston Celtics are currently second in the Eastern Conference standings. They still sit behind the Cleveland Cavaliers but are right on their heels. This is despite the fact that Boston has suffered several injuries along the way to both starters and bench players. They haven’t been whole yet.
One of the players who keeps getting hurt is Kristaps Porziņģis. They knew when they traded for him that he was an injury-prone big man. He has lived up to that billing, having missed 25 games in the regular season in his first year as a Celtic and not playing in the playoffs until the NBA Finals.
So far this season, the starting center has played in just seven games. A myriad of ailments have left him out of Boston’s lineup for most of the season. The most recent injury to afflict him was a right heel injury that he suffered against the Washington Wizards on Dec. 15.
Head coach Joe Mazulla recently gave an update on Porziņģis and his injury. Porziņģis got injured in the first half and didn’t return to the game. Luke Kornet ended up starting the second half for him. It doesn’t look like he is going to miss a ton of time with this latest injury.
When asked about the injury and how Porziņģis is doing, Mazulla mentioned that he’s already getting some shots up.
“Got a good lift in today. Got up a couple shots, getting better day-to-day. He’s feeling better than he did at the game the other day.”
The best news that Mazulla gave is that this injury doesn’t seem to be connected to any of the other injuries that Porziņģis has suffered. “Oh no — nothing related to the past,” Mazulla remarked. Porziņģis didn’t seem too concerned about it when he was asked about the injury, either.
“It’s nothing major, honestly,” Porziņģis said following the injury. “More like a precautionary thing. In the second (quarter), when it started, it was pretty sensitive so I told the medical staff and they just pulled me out of the game. I don’t think it’s anything major.”
Celtics fans can breathe a sigh of relief that the injury is nothing major. While Mazulla did not definitively say when he will be back, it certainly seems like an injury that will keep him out for days instead of weeks.