BOSTON — Kristaps Porzingis picked up his latest injury, this time in the Celtics’ loss to the 76ers on Christmas Day at TD Garden. The big man appeared to tweak his ankle early in the game, and while he initially played through it, he was downgraded during halftime of Wednesday’s game.
C’s coach Joe Mazzulla revealed what he knew about the injury postgame. The team listed him on the injury report with left ankle soreness.
“I noticed that he played through it,” Mazzulla said. “I asked him how he was. He said he was okay and then he got re-evaluated at halftime. But I haven’t heard anything.”
Porzingis ended up playing 13 minutes in the first half of the loss, putting up nine points, two rebounds and three assists. While he didn’t play much to close out the first half, he did check into the second quarter with 34 seconds left. But when the Celtics came out of the locker room for the second half, the 7-foot-2 big man didn’t come back to the bench.
Porzingis didn’t speak postgame to reporters, though it didn’t look like there was much protection or anything on his left ankle. Notably, the left ankle is the same foot that needed offseason surgery from his rare injury from the NBA Finals. That injury kept him out for the opening month of the season as Porzingis needed rehab.
The injuries keep piling up for Porzingis as he’s been injury prone throughout his career. He had a minor right heel bruise from the Wizards win last week, which didn’t lead to him missing any additional games. It’s unclear the severity of this latest injury, but it’s one C’s fans will keep an eye on going forward. The Celtics play the Pacers on Friday at the Garden for their next game.