The Boston Celtics wrapped up their four-game Western Conference road trip with a win on Tuesday night. They took down the Nikola Jokic-less Denver Nuggets in a 118-106 victory, finishing their trip with a 3-1 record. Usually, Boston employs a three-point-heavy offense to get the job done, but on Tuesday, they unleashed Kristaps Porzingis and his high-level post-up game.

With no Jokic, the Nuggets were left uncharacteristically small. Dario Saric started at the five, and DeAndre Jordan got a bunch of minutes, too. So, whenever the Celtics got the chance, they posted up Porzingis. The Latvian big man even made an extra effort to crash the glass.

But his interior presence was met with a tough blow. Literally.

Kristaps Porzingis gives injury update after groin shot vs. Nuggets

While putting back a tip-layup, Porzingis took a leg to the groin from Zeke Nnaji. He instantly fell to the floor in a heap, grabbing the injured area. After a quick stint on the bench, he was eventually okay to come back in the game, but he was hit in a place where no player wants to get hit.

The Kristaps Porzingis nut shot. Ouch. pic.twitter.com/RTo22OXJqG

— Jack Simone (@JackSimoneNBA) January 8, 2025

After the game, a reporter asked Porzingis about his “unfortunate” injury, and it was met with all smiles.

“You can imagine what happened,” Porzingis said with a smile via Noa Dalzell of SB Nation. “It was honestly pretty painful, I’m not going to lie. But it went away pretty quick. All good. I know I scared everybody, but all good.”

Kristaps Porzingis on this play:

“It was honestly pretty painful, not gonna lie. But it went away pretty quick… I know I scared everyone.” https://t.co/PPYoksJ8VD pic.twitter.com/GTXew8m46x

— Noa Dalzell 🏀 (@NoaDalzell) January 8, 2025

Anytime Porzingis ends up on the floor, Celtics Nation takes a collective gasp. The injury-prone big man worked his way back from offseason surgery for a late-November return but has dealt with nicks and bruises throughout the year so far.

An ankle issue here, a calf problem there, Porzingis will never be able to avoid minor injuries. Luckily for the Celtics, Tuesday’s issue was nothing major. (Even though it was very painful for Porzingis at the time.)

Porzingis ended the night with a monster statline, posting 25 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, and two steals while shooting 9-of-18 from the floor.

His physicality and aggression down low were essential for a Celtics team that wasn’t able to hit their usual number of threes. They didn’t even take as many as they usually do.

But Porzingis made up for all of that despite his unfortunate run-in with Nnaji’s leg. Getting hit where Porzingis did is never fun, but it was nothing more than a short-term problem.