Porzingis suffered an injury in the third quarter of Friday’s NBA In-Season Tournament contest, prompting Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla to play backup center Luke Kornet the rest of the way. With just 6:44 minutes left in the frame, Porzingis’ night came to an end, scoring nine points with four rebounds and two assists in 22 minutes of action.
After Boston failed to keep up with Orlando, getting outscored, 65-40, in the second half en route to a 113-96 loss, Porzingis addressed the left calf injury.
The 28-year-old revealed that he’ll undergo an MRI on Saturday, according to Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. Porzingis also noted that he doesn’t believe there’s any cause for major concern regarding the injury — a good sign for Boston following a discouraging overall defeat.
It’s not the first time this season that Porzingis has posed potential injury concerns with the Celtics.
Most recently, Porzingis missed Boston’s last matchup with the 76ers in Philadelphia due to a knee injury, which proved to be nothing severe. Porzingis downplayed the injury while undergoing a brief one-game stint on the injury report, returning at full strength to Mazzulla’s starting lineup for the team’s previous In-Season Tournament battle with the Toronto Raptors.
Porzingis has grown to become a vital member of Boston’s new-look roster, most notably working well alongside Jaylen Brown to establish a dominant frontcourt offensive presence. The 7-foot-3 veteran has averaged 18.9 points with 6.7 rebounds while shooting a career-best 54.7% from the field.
Not a whole lot went well for the Celtics in Game 2 against the Heat. Boston entered as a 14-point favorite, but the Heat won by 10. the game brought back nightmares of last season’s Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals. In that one, the Celtics were significant favorites at home against the Heat in a winner-take-all game with a berth in the NBA Finals on the line. The Heat embarrassed the Celtics, winning 103-84.
