GettyGood news for the Celtics on the latest Kristaps Porzingis injury
Look, we all know the upcoming season for the Boston Celtics will be a bit of a tightrope walk. They are overwhelmingly talented, and with all six of their top players intact, it’s not likely that there is a team in the NBA who could knock them out of a seven-game series. But we also know the Kristaps Porzingis injury history, and that will keep Celtics fans and observers on their toes all season.
Porzingis gave Bostonians a fright with a calf injury on Friday afternoon in Orlando, during a loss that showed how the Celtics can be vulnerable when not at 100% (Porzingis played only 22 minutes, and Jrue Holiday was out with an ankle injury). Coach Joe Mazzulla said after the game that there would be an MRI and that the injury was not too severe, but NBA fans know all too well that it is a short walk from a calf injury to an Achilles injury.
On Saturday, though, Porzingis offered an Instagram post that, he said, was “Good news this morning.”
“Be back very soon,” he added.
Kristaps Porzingis Injury Concerns Will Linger
Good news, indeed. Porzingis is off to a very good start with the Celtics, averaging 18.9 points and 6.7 rebounds for a team that is clearly the best he has been on in his nine seasons in the NBA. He’s shooting 54.7% from the field, a career high, and attempting 11.9 shots per game, a career low.
That’s what makes Porzingis such an oddly important X-factor for the Celtics. He is, essentially, a No. 3 or 4 option after Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown and alongside Jrue Holiday. He is also, with Luke Kornet, the only 7-footer on the Celtics roster, and thus, an important part of the team’s ability to guard the paint and protect the rim.
Porzingis is averaging 1.7 blocks this season. The Celtics have a blocked-shot percentage of 11.3% when Porzingis is on the floor and 8.2% when he is off it. Defensively, according to Basketball-Reference.com, the Celtics allow 110.3 points per 100 possessions when Porzingis is off the floor and 107.9 points per 100 possessions when he is on the floor.
But every twisted ankle and fall to the floor will be watched with great interest when it comes to Porzingis, who has struggled to stay healthy in his NBA career.
Celtics Unraveled vs. Orlando
As for Friday’s loss to the Magic, the Celtics were a plus-6 in the 22 minutes before the Kristaps Porzingis injury but unraveled a bit without him in there. Already missing Holiday, the normally formidable Celtics defense (No. 4 in the league at 107.8 points per 100 possessions) showed some weakness against the young and physical Magic.
The Magic outrebounded Boston by a 48-31 margin and outscored the Celtics in the paint, 60-40.
The 17-point loss was by far the worst of the Celtics’ 12-4 season, and was punctuated by a 17-0 run in the third quarter that turned a 12-point Celtics lead into a five-point Magic advantage.
“That team does a great job of making runs like that and we just didn’t execute and you have to guard them in transition,” Joe Mazzulla told reporters per the Boston Herald. “The best thing they do is play in transition, get to the free throw line and offensive rebound. …
“There were two stretches where they go on that 17-0 run in the middle of the third and they went on a run in the middle of the second, and outside of those two bad stretches, we played good basketball, but it’s not enough against a team like this. This is a good team. And so those two stretches cost us.”