<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/celtics-kristaps-porzingis-surprise-injury-update-brad-stevens');   ga('set', 'title', 'Celtics’ Kristaps Porzingis gets ‘surprise’ injury update from Brad Stevens');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Celtics-news-Kristaps-Porzingis-gets-surprise-injury-update-from-Brad-Stevens.jpg"></figure><h1>Celtics’ Kristaps Porzingis gets ‘surprise’ injury update from Brad Stevens</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-09-24T08:11:22-07:00">September 24th, 8:11am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-09-24T08:12:40-07:00">September 24th, 8:12am</time><address><a>Brett Siegel</a>Brett Siegel joined ClutchPoints as a credentialed NBA insider and reporter in May 2023 after previously covering the NBA for Fastbreak on FanNation and NBA Analysis Network, as well as working with Louisville Basketball. From playing to coaching to covering the game as a media member, Brett has been involved with the game of basketball from many different perspectives. Breaking the news of various free agent signings, yearly NBA Draft news and other key stories around the league, Brett is always on the phone, getting the latest news and rumors around the NBA. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @BrettSiegelNBA.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Fresh off their 18th championship, the most out of any team in the NBA, the Boston Celtics are preparing for the 2024-25 season with the mindset that they are once again the best team in the league. This truly isn’t hard to imagine either, as Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, and Jrue Holiday all return and headline the Celtics’ championship roster. While Kristaps Porzingis is also back with the team, he is currently recovering from offseason <a href="https://www.nba.com/celtics/news/kristaps-porzingis-injury-update" rel="noopener">surgery</a> he had in June to repair a torn retinaculum and dislocated posterior tibialis tendon, an injury he suffered in the 2024 NBA Finals.</p><p>Originally, the Celtics said the expectation was for <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/celtics-news-kristaps-porzingis-surgery-update-hints-may-not-return-until-2025">Porzingis to return to play in five-to-six months</a>, meaning he would miss the first month or two of the regular season. Despite the notion that Boston’s big man is still set to be sidelined to begin the year, there is a sense of internal optimism that Porzingis will be back sooner than many would have imagined.</p><p>Head coach <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/celtics-news-kristaps-porzingis-injury-timetable-joe-mazzulla-update-24-25">Joe Mazzulla recently provided an update on Porzingis</a>, stating that his big man has been recovering well, but there was no timetable for his eventual return. On Tuesday, during the Celtics’ media day, Brad Stevens spoke to reporters and gave the latest update on Porzingis’ health, claiming that the All-Star could <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1838587963069833344" rel="noopener">return</a> sooner than imagined.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Reigning Executive of the Year Brad Stevens on the health status of Celtics big man Kristaps Porzingis following his surgery to his foot/ankle:</p><p>"[KP] seems to be recovering well, he's very optimistic. I don't know that we're interested in putting a timeline on it because the… <a href="https://t.co/cjvHtyI7CG">pic.twitter.com/cjvHtyI7CG</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1838587963069833344?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 24, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>“Kristaps obviously had surgery that was well documented after the year and he seems to be recovering well. He’s very optimistic,” Stevens stated, via ClutchPoints Celtics reporter Daniel Donabedian. “I don’t know that we’re interested in putting a timeline on it because the injury is unique.</p><p>“But as far as how he feels and the progress that he’s made, I’d say we’re very very pleased with where he is, and maybe a little surprised.”</p><h2><b>Kristaps Porzingis to return earlier than expected?</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Boston-Celtics-center-Kristaps-Porzingis-8-reacts.jpg"><figcaption>Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>This is certainly an update that Celtics fans will be happy to hear, especially given how meaningful Porzingis’ presence on the court is. Boston went 43-14 in the 57 regular-season games Porzingis participated in, and the team lost just one playoff game when he played. In total, Porzingis averaged 20.1 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks per game during the 2023-24 season.</p><p>When speaking with ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne recently, Porzingis claimed that the <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/41400876/boston-celtics-championship-honeymoon-12-days" rel="noopener">expectation</a> entering the year is for him to return at some point before the new year.</p><p>“The expectation is sometime in December,” Porzingis said. “But I’m feeling really good and I’m working towards hopefully playing earlier than that.”</p><p>Porzingis being sidelined to begin the 2024-25 season means that the Celtics will obviously turn to veteran big man Al Horford to start at the center position alongside the championship core of Tatum, Brown, White, and Holiday. Xavier Tillman Sr. and Luke Kornet will both hold key roles off the bench as well in the absence of Porzingis to begin the new year.</p><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/celtics-2024-offseason-recap-big-spending-impact-potential-dynasty">Celtics once again have high title aspirations</a>, and even without Porzingis as he recovers from offseason surgery, the expectation is to still sit atop the Eastern Conference standings. The first several weeks of the regular season that Boston is without Porzingis will be very telling as to if any team will have a real chance to dethrone them.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Celtics’ Kristaps Porzingis gets ‘surprise’ injury update from Brad Stevens

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/celtics-news-kristaps-porzingis-surgery-update-hints-may-not-return-until-2025');   ga('set', 'title', 'Celtics’ Kristaps Porzingis surgery update hints he may not return until 2025');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Kristaps-Porzingis-surgery-update-hints-he-may-not-return-until-2025.jpg"></figure><h1>Celtics’ Kristaps Porzingis surgery update hints he may not return until 2025</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-06-27T08:25:52-07:00">June 27th, 8:25am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-06-27T08:35:50-07:00">June 27th, 8:35am</time><address><a>Jason Patt</a>Jason Patt started as an editor at ClutchPoints in 2018 and became the head of the editorial team in 2022. He also co-hosts Cash Considerations: A Chicago Bulls Podcast for the Blue Wire Network.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Boston Celtics announced earlier this week that <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/celtics-news-kristaps-porzingis-undergoing-surgery-nba-finals">Kristaps Porzingis would need surgery</a> for a torn retinaculum and dislocated posterior tibialis tendon suffered in Game 2 of the NBA Finals. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/celtics-news-brad-stevens-worrying-kristaps-porzingis-injury-revelation">Celtics president Brad Stevens later revealed</a> Porzingis would likely miss the start of the 2024-25 season due to this ankle injury. Sure enough, the <a href="https://x.com/celtics/status/1806336716602499484" rel="noopener">latest injury update</a> says the big man will miss 5-6 months after undergoing surgery, meaning there’s a chance he’s not on the court again until 2025.</p><p>While Porzingis is now an NBA champion after Boston dispatched the Dallas Mavericks in five games, this is yet another unfortunate injury setback in a career full of them. The 28-year-old has never played more than 72 games in an NBA season and played in just 57 games in this past regular season before missing most of the playoffs. He got injured in the first round against the Miami Heat and <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/celtics-news-kristaps-porzingis-game-1-revelation-that-should-terrify-mavericks">returned for Game 1 of the NBA Finals</a>, only to get hurt again in Game 2, though the silver lining was he was able to get on the court in the clinching Game 5.</p><h2><b>What this means for Celtics</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Kristaps-Porzingis-warming-up.jpg"><figcaption>Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>Kristaps Porzingis was a game-changer for the Celtics this past season, averaging 20.1 points, 7.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.9 blocks in the regular-season games he did play. His impact was evident in Game 1 of the Finals when he scored 20 points, grabbed six boards and blocked three shots off the bench in a dominant victory.</p><p>However, Boston is obviously used to playing and winning without Porzingis. The Celtics coasted through the playoffs despite him missing most of the championship run, thanks to their overall talent level and the presence of veteran Al Horford. Given this surgery, it’s even more important that <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/celtics-news-al-horford-gets-painfully-honest-on-nba-future-beyond-2024-25">Horford confirmed he’ll be returning</a> for a chance at a repeat.</p><p>Of course, Horford just turned 38 years old and is nearing the end of the line. While still effective, Boston doesn’t want to rely on him too much throughout the course of the regular season, so there needs to be some big-man depth in place. Luke Kornet and Xavier Tillman are both free agents, and perhaps one or both of them will be back. The Celtics could also look elsewhere for a cheap center to bring in. The roster is <a href="https://www.spotrac.com/nba/boston-celtics/cap/_/year/2024" rel="noopener">already very expensive</a>, so there’s not a whole lot of flexibility there, but Brad Stevens is an excellent executive who surely has a plan in place to bolster the roster even with limited means.</p><p>Boston will still enter next season as the championship favorite despite this Kristaps Porzingis injury, but his situation will be one to monitor moving forward. And if there are real long-term concerns, could the Celtics even look to move on from him at some point in the near future? It’s something that should be considered given his injury history.</p><p>For now, Boston will continue to celebrate banner No. 18 and Porzingis will do the same while rehabbing his ankle.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Celtics’ Kristaps Porzingis surgery update hints he may not return until 2025

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/celtics-news-brad-stevens-worrying-kristaps-porzingis-injury-revelation');   ga('set', 'title', 'Celtics’ Brad Stevens lets slip worrying Kristaps Porzingis injury revelation');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Brad-Stevens-lets-slip-worrying-Kristaps-Porzingis-injury-revelation-for-2024-25.jpg"></figure><h1>Celtics’ Brad Stevens lets slip worrying Kristaps Porzingis injury revelation</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-06-26T12:37:33-07:00">June 26th, 12:37pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-06-26T12:37:33-07:00">June 26th, 12:37pm</time><address><a>Daniel Donabedian</a>Daniel Donabedian is a beat reporter for ClutchPoints covering the Boston Celtics. He's also covered Villanova men's basketball and Big East basketball, building a strong reputation in the northeast.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The 2024-25 NBA season is still months away, but the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-finals-news-celtics-proved-to-be-matchup-proof-while-mavs-west-proved-to-be-matchup-dependent">Boston Celtics may have</a> to begin their quest for back-to-back championships without center Kristaps Porzingis.</p><p>The Latvian big man sustained a number of injuries during the Green Team’s run to the title, as he missed the entirety of the Eastern Conference Semifinals and Conference Finals due to a soleus strain. Then in the 2024 NBA Finals, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/celtics-news-kristaps-porzingis-undergoing-surgery-nba-finals">Porzingis suffered a torn</a> retinaculum and dislocated posterior tibialis tendon in Game 2, sidelining him until he made a triumphant return in Game 5.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">A huge roar from the crowd as Kristaps Porzingis takes the court <a href="https://t.co/Mx3f4r1edr">pic.twitter.com/Mx3f4r1edr</a></p><p>— Daniel Donabedian (@danield1214) <a href="https://twitter.com/danield1214/status/1802859794836988408?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 18, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>As for next season, Celtics President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens believes Porzingis <a href="https://youtube.com/watch?v=Y12CR9jFG3w">won’t quite be ready</a> by late October, per The Ryen Russillo Podcast.</p><p>“Kristaps, after his surgery, we don’t know exactly when he’ll be back, but he’ll probably miss at least the very start of the season,” Stevens revealed.</p><p>Boston’s de facto general manager didn’t provide a date for Porzingis’ surgery, yet he clarified that it’d be “soon” during a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvq09IU7pyw">Tuesday morning press conference</a>.</p><p>“Kristaps is still in the middle of consulting with some different doctors and specialists but we anticipate surgery will be soon,” he said. “And then we’ll have more of an update for timeline of recovery after the surgery.”</p><p>The Celtics themselves <a href="https://x.com/celtics/status/1805618570795041031" rel="noopener">stated that surgery</a> was also looming:</p><p>“Surgery will be performed in the coming days and further updates will be provided when available,” read a team statement on X.</p><p>Regardless of his health issues, Porzingis played a key role in getting the C’s over the hump. He was Boston’s third-leading scorer in the regular season and provided the franchise with exceptional versatility at center.</p><p>The 2018 All-Star was a post-up threat, a rim protector, a sharp shooter, and a dangerous scorer who easily rose up over smaller defenders. The only thing that really slowed him down last season was his health, as few defenses had an answer for him when he was paired up with Celtics stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.</p><p>Stevens and company want to maintain that talented core, so they’ll do whatever they can to keep Porzingis healthy. The Celtics went an incredible 10-2 without “The Unicorn” on the court in the playoffs and were arguably not even at their peak while dominating the Dallas Mavericks in five games in the Finals.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">“Once I got hurt, it was a heartbreaking moment for me. I didn’t even wanna accept the truth…I’m just super happy to be a part of this, to give something to the team.”</p><p>⁃ Kristaps Porzingis 🗣️</p><p>(via <a href="https://twitter.com/danield1214?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@danield1214</a>) <a href="https://t.co/0N5vXvUbMv">pic.twitter.com/0N5vXvUbMv</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1802924168327168198?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 18, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>With Porzingis, Boston was 6-1 in the postseason. Simply put, the Celtics know how great they can be with the 7-footer and are willing to rest him next season if it means he’ll be available down the line.</p><h2><b>What does Porzingis’ health mean for the Celtics’ 2024 offseason?</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Kristaps-Porzingis-4.jpg"><figcaption>Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>The Celtics managed to be so successful without Porzingis because of their depth. Veteran center Al Horford is closer to 40 than 35, yet he turns back the clock whenever he’s on the court.</p><p>His defense is still strong, he’s not afraid to work in the paint, and his 3-point shot can’t be ignored. With all his experience in the league and his determination to come back next season, he’s a solid backup for Porzingis.</p><p>Behind Horford are centers Luke Kornet and Xavier Tillman Sr. These two younger bigs can provide solid minutes when called upon, but they’ve never truly been starters in the NBA. They’re both free agents this summer and could be offered short-term extensions given Porzingis’ possible absence.</p><p>There’s also 7-footer Neemias Queta, who got elevated to Boston’s playoff roster late in the regular season. The 24-year-old’s contract features a club option, which the Celtics may or may not pick up this offseason.</p><p>Since some question marks remain about the future of Boston’s big men, Stevens might hone in on a center in the draft. Yves Missi, a 7-footer out of Baylor, could go late in the first round and the C’s just so happen to have the 30th overall pick.</p><p>No matter where the Celtics look for answers, Stevens views Porzingis’ injury as a chance for his team to experiment.</p><p>“That’ll be a great opportunity for us to do things different and have to find different solutions,” Stevens told Russillo after mentioning that Porzingis could sit to open the 2024-25 season.</p><p>With the draft and free agency officially here, the journey to become the first team to win back-to-back NBA titles since 2018 starts now for the Celtics.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Celtics’ Brad Stevens lets slip worrying Kristaps Porzingis injury revelation

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/celtics-news-kristaps-porzingis-undergoing-surgery-nba-finals');   ga('set', 'title', 'Celtics’ Kristaps Porzingis undergoing surgery after NBA Finals');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Celtics-news-Kristaps-Porzingis-undergoing-surgery-after-NBA-Finals-run.jpg"></figure><h1>Celtics’ Kristaps Porzingis undergoing surgery after NBA Finals</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-06-25T09:45:12-07:00">June 25th, 9:45am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-06-25T09:45:12-07:00">June 25th, 9:45am</time><address><a>Rexwell Villas</a>Rexwell Villas is an experienced sports writer covering a variety of sports, including the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and college football. He's a Communications Arts graduate from the University of Santo Tomas in the Philippines, and he claims to have JR Smith's conscience with his shot selection. He has won a basketball, a baseball, and a football championship in fantasy all within a year.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Kristaps Porzingis and the Boston Celtics are still in party mode after claiming the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/celtics-news-kristaps-porzingis-dishes-on-playoff-injury-woes-after-nba-finals-victory">franchise’s 18th banner</a> following a five-game series victory in the 2024 NBA Finals against his former team, the Dallas Mavericks. But Porzingis will soon be going under the knife to <a href="https://x.com/celtics/status/1805618570795041031" rel="noopener">repair a lower-body injury</a> he <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/celtics-news-boston-kristaps-porzingis-injury-nba-finals">suffered</a> during the Mavs series, as announced by Boston via its official X (the social media platform formerly known as Twitter) account on Tuesday.</p><p><i>“Kristaps Porzingis suffered a torn retinaculum and dislocated posterior tibialis tendon in Game 2 of the NBA Finals. Surgery will be performed in the coming days and further updates will be provided when available.”</i></p><p>Porzingis played in just three games in the NBA Finals. He was sidelined with the said injury in Game 3. Although he was not ruled out of Game 4, Porzingis did not see the court during a blowout loss to Luka Doncic and company. In the Celtics’ title-clinching victory in Game 5, the Latvian star scored five points and grabbed a rebound in 16 minutes of action. Those weren’t big numbers, but Boston didn’t need huge numbers from him to score a 106-88 victory against Dallas. If anything, Porzingis was a plus-8 in the championship-clincher, proving even in limited time that he offers so much value to the Celtics when he’s on the floor and regardless if he’s getting touches or not.</p><p>However, Celtics fans will always remember the boost Porzingis gave Boston in Game 1 of the finals. Coming off the bench in Game 1 — his first game back from a calf injury that forced him to miss the entire second round versus the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Eastern Conference finals against the Indiana Pacers. In that contest, Porzngis came off the bench and fired 11 points in the first quarter alone. He finished the game with 20 points on 8/13 shooting from the field, including two 3-pointers, six rebounds, and three blocks in just 21 minutes.</p><p>In only seven games played in the 2024 NBA Playoffs, Porzingis averaged 12.3 points, 4.4 boards, 1.1 assists, and 1.6 blocks while shooting 46.7 percent from the field and 34.5 percent from behind the arc. The Celtics signed Porzingis to a two-year, $60 million extension in 2023 after acquiring him via a trade with the Washington Wizards.</p><h2>Celtics big man Kristaps Porzingis is also a no-go for the Olympics qualifiers</h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Kristaps-Porzingis-warming-up.jpg"><figcaption>Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>The injury and surgery will also impact Porzingis’s availability for his country in the Olympic qualifiers. Even if Latvia earns a ticket to the Summer Olympics, Porzingis <a href="https://www.reuters.com/sports/celtics-kristaps-porzingis-have-surgery-miss-olympics-2024-06-25/" rel="noopener">won’t be able to fly</a> with the team to Paris, the Celtics confirmed as well.</p><p>“Porzingis had hoped to delay surgery until after both the NBA Finals and Latvia’s Olympic campaign, but the injury doesn’t allow for consistent play at the level required for Olympic competition,” the Celtics said in a statement (h/t Reuters).</p><p>The Celtics are going to need Porzingis healthy if they are to have success again in the next season where everyone in the league has a target on Boston’s back. Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, and Jrue Holiday are all going to be the core again of Boston along with Porzingis, who brings so much to the table for the Celtics, thanks to his rare combination of size, length, great rim protection, and ability to stretch the floor.</p><p>While there is no timetable provided yet for Porzingis’ return to normal basketball activities once he’s done with surgery, he will have months to recover before the 2024-25 NBA season begins in October.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Celtics’ Kristaps Porzingis undergoing surgery after NBA Finals

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-2k24-splash-zone-100-ovr-vince-carter-kristaps-porzingis');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA 2K24 Splash Zone – 100 OVR Vince Carter, Kristaps Porzingis');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/00-OVR-Vince-Carter-Kristaps-Porzingis.jpg"><figcaption>ClutchPoints</figcaption></figure><h1>NBA 2K24 Splash Zone – 100 OVR Vince Carter, Kristaps Porzingis</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-06-20T12:30:26-07:00">June 20th, 12:30pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-06-20T12:30:26-07:00">June 20th, 12:30pm</time><address><a>Massimo Marchiano</a>Massimo Marchiano is part of ClutchPoints' Gaming team, specializing in Sports Video Games. He's also the published author of "Dawkin: A Tall Tale", a sci-fi western novel. When he's not writing about cowboys and aliens, he's watching his favorite Philly Sports team lose (or winning with them himself in his favorite video games).</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Gaming</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-2k24-review">NBA 2K24</a> MyTEAM is adding its new Splash Zone set this week, which adds a 100 OVR Kristaps Porzingis, Vince Carter, and more. Furthermore, this set includes valuable special insert items like a Dark Matter Chet Holmgren and more. We’ll show you how you can possibly earn these new cards in MyTEAM this weekend.</p><h2><b>NBA 2K24 MyTEAM Splash Zone – How To Get a 100 OVR Kristaps Porzingis &amp; Vince Carter?</b></h2><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Splash Zone is coming tomorrow to MyTEAM! 💦  </p><p>Learn more in the MyTEAM Playbook: <a href="https://t.co/a7lKWzCFPf">https://t.co/a7lKWzCFPf</a>   </p><p>Look for these players ➕ more! <br>💯 OVR Kristaps Porzingis<br>💯 OVR Vince Carter<br>🌌 Dark Matter Chet Holmgren <a href="https://t.co/pVthdwVLp7">pic.twitter.com/pVthdwVLp7</a></p><p>— NBA 2K MyTEAM (@NBA2KMyTEAM) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA2KMyTEAM/status/1803842751525720360?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 20, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p><b>The 100 OVR Vince Carter &amp; Kristaps Porzingis player items item in NBA 2K24 MyTEAM Splash Zone can be unlocked in special inserts via Splash Zone Packs &amp; Boxes. </b>Mecha begins on Friday, June 21st, 2024.</p><p>The NBA 2K24 Splash Zone MyTEAM Special inserts include:</p><ul><li>100 Overall Kristaps Porzingis</li><li>100 Overall Vince Carter</li><li>Dark Matter Chet Holmgren</li><li>Dark Matter Karl Malone</li><li>Dark Matter Rudy Gay</li></ul><p>Kristaps Porzingis won his first ever NBA Championship earlier this week against his former team, the Dallas Mavericks. Although <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/celtics-news-boston-kristaps-porzingis-injury-nba-finals">injuries limited his time</a> in the playoffs, Porzingis was still important to the Celtics’ Champion run. Although Jaylen Brown earned his MVP honor, the truth is the entire team showed up and played well throughout the series.</p><p>Porzingis was drafted 4th overall in the 2015 NBA Draft. While he was never able to win anything with the Knicks, Mavericks, and Wizards, Porzingis finally found his gold at the end of the tunnel. Perhaps it’s just the luck of the Irish that brought Porzingis this fortunate opportunity. At 28 years old, Porzingis still has plenty of time to keep making an impact on the court.</p><p>We’d be remiss not to mention the other 100 OVR player item in this set, Vince Carter. Although Carter never won a Championship like Porzingis just did, he made up for it with several individual accomplishments. The 1999 Rookie of the Year went on to earn 8 All-Star nods as he played a record-holding 22 seasons. Right now, it seems only LeBron James may be able to break that record. But other than that, nobody will likely play for as long as Carter did.</p><p>The <b>NBA 2K24 MyTEAM Splash Zone</b><b> Collection Reward is a Dark Matter or 100 OVR Splash Zone Player Item. </b>You can find these new player items within this collection from the Pack Market. The other Splash Zone player items include:</p><ul><li>Dark Matter John Wall</li><li>Galaxy Opal Anfernee Simons</li><li>Galaxy Opal Robert Covington</li><li>Galaxy Opal Corey Maggette</li></ul><p>Overall, that includes everything you need to know about the <a href="https://nba.2k.com/2k24/myteam/season-playbook/" rel="noopener">NBA 2K24 MyTEAM Splash Zone set</a>, which includes a 100 OVR Vince Carter, Kristaps Porzingis, and more. If you want more NBA 2K content, there’s still time to earn all remaining rewards for Season 7 in MyTEAM and MyCAREER. Furthermore, you have a chance to earn a free Dark Matter Andrei Kirilenko in 2K24 for a limited time.</p><p>For more<a href="https://clutchpoints.com/gaming"> gaming</a> and <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba">NBA</a> news, visit ClutchPoints. Furthermore, subscribe to our <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/newsletters/gaming">gaming newsletter</a> for more weekly info.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA 2K24 Splash Zone – 100 OVR Vince Carter, Kristaps Porzingis

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/celtics-news-boston-kristaps-porzingis-injury-nba-finals');   ga('set', 'title', 'Why Celtics’ Kristaps Porzingis played through injury in NBA Finals');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/QP-Celtics-news-Kristaps-Porzingis-set-for-NBA-Finals-Game-1-injury-return.jpg"></figure><h1>Why Celtics’ Kristaps Porzingis played through injury in NBA Finals</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-06-19T13:49:09-07:00">June 19th, 1:49pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-06-19T13:56:35-07:00">June 19th, 1:56pm</time><address><a href="https://www.facebook.com/joey.mistretta/" rel="facebook">Joey Mistretta</a>Joey Mistretta is a Dallas Mavericks beat reporter and lead MLB editor for ClutchPoints. He is originally from a small town in Southern California. Mistretta graduated college with a degree in broadcast journalism from Biola University.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Kristaps Porzingis played well to begin the NBA Finals before <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/celtics-news-kristaps-porzingis-painful-injury-gets-truthful-take-boston-teammate">suffering an injury</a>. His status for the remainder of the Finals was in question. Porzingis was made available in Game 4 but did not play, however, he did receive some minutes in Game 5. Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla <a href="https://x.com/PardonMyTake/status/1803515003737350521" rel="noopener">recently addressed</a> Porzingis’ injury concern during an appearance on Pardon My Take.</p><p>“We would have used him in like one of four or five different situations,” Mazzulla said. “If there was a critical jump ball… We would have put him in. If there was an end of game situation where we had to guard the rim…. Yeah if we were winning (Game 4) I would have put him in the game for a minute or two. Just because he sacrificed his whole career… To get to this point. To not be apart of it would have just devastated him. He had a serious, serious injury and he worked his a** off to get back. What he <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/celtics-news-is-kristaps-porzingis-playing-vs-mavericks-game-5-injury-update">brought for us in Game 5</a> was unbelievable.”</p><p>Porzingis has enjoyed a strong NBA career, but he has missed a significant amount of time due to injuries. When on the floor this past season, Porzingis played a pivotal role for the Celtics. Boston may not have won the championship without him.</p><p>“When you have a guy in his career that’s been through a lot and sacrificed a lot, you want them to be apart of it,” Mazzulla continued. “So yeah, I would have used KP in Game 4 under those circumstances.”</p><h2><b>How bad was Kristaps Porzingis’ injury?</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Kristaps-Porzingis-3-1.jpg"><figcaption>Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>Porzingis suffered a left posterior tibialis dislocation in Game 2. The injury was serious as Mazzulla mentioned. The Celtics head coach was later asked how serious the injury was on Pardon My Take.</p><p>“We don’t know how long the series is going to go on for,” Mazzulla said. “Let’s try to save him from himself because he was trying to play. So let’s see if we can get through a game or two. And then when it was Game 5 at home, it was like ‘hey this might be it, I gotta be out there.’ He was like, ‘I’m playing.’ He overrode the medical team.”</p><p>Winning a championship is the ultimate goal in the NBA. At 28 years old, Porzingis has enjoyed a number of memorable moments in his career. However, he wanted to be apart of the series-clinching game in the NBA Finals.</p><p>Of course, the Celtics were not guaranteed to clinch in Game 5. Nevertheless, Porzingis wanted to be on the floor in case it did happen. Sure enough, Boston cruised to a 106-88 Game 5 victory over the Dallas Mavericks.</p><h2><b>Porzingis’ impact on Celtics</b></h2><p>Porzingis played in three games during the NBA Finals. He averaged 12.3 points and 3.7 rebounds per game. His best performance was in Game 1, when Porzingis recorded 20 points on 5-13 shooting from the field and 2-4 shooting from beyond the arc.</p><p>Porzingis made a big impact all season long. He averaged over 20 points and seven rebounds per game during the regular season. He was limited to only 57 contests, but Porzingis still impacted winning nonetheless. The decision to acquire him via trade last offseason paid major dividends.</p><p>The Celtics built their core of players around superstars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Adding players like Derrick White, Jrue Holiday, and Kristaps Porzingis have turned the Celtics into a contender to become an NBA dynasty.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Why Celtics’ Kristaps Porzingis played through injury in NBA Finals

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/celtics-news-kristaps-porzingis-dishes-on-playoff-injury-woes-after-nba-finals-victory');   ga('set', 'title', 'Celtics’ Kristaps Porzingis dishes on playoff injury woes after NBA Finals win');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Celtics-Porzingis.jpeg"></figure><h1>Celtics’ Kristaps Porzingis dishes on playoff injury woes after NBA Finals win</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-06-18T06:54:46-07:00">June 18th, 6:54am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-06-18T06:54:46-07:00">June 18th, 6:54am</time><address><a>Sam DiGiovanni</a>Sam DiGiovanni started at ClutchPoints as an associate editor in 2021 and became the site's Philadelphia 76ers beat reporter ahead of the 2022-23 season. He graduated from Marist College in May of 2022 and has written for TheKnicksWall.com and CenterFieldMarist.com in the past.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Kristaps Porzingis is an NBA champion in his first season with the Boston Celtics. At age 28 and with his fourth NBA team, the Latvian big man played a major role in <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/ranking-the-celtics-18-championships-after-2024-nba-finals-win" rel="noopener">Boston’s 18th title</a>.</p><p>Trading for Porzingis was a major risk for the Celtics. On top of trading away Marcus Smart, their defensive stalwart and heart of the team, they were betting on Porzingis staying healthy. He came into Boston with a lengthy injury history and just three instances in eight years in which he played 60 games in the regular season.</p><p>Porzingis turned out to be a great for for the Celtics, unlocking their five-out spacing with his incredible shooting from deep while also providing them with a lob threat and strong interior defender. Although he missed the entire conference semifinals and finals series, he made his way back for the biggest stage and played three games, helping Boston finish the job despite suffering a rare leg injury.</p><p>After winning the NBA Finals against the Dallas Mavericks, one of his former teams, Porzingis reflected on the mindset he brought to the Celtics and his burning desire to win a championship. He had a hard time accepting that he suffered another injury but he was fortunately able to recover in time to play in the decisive Game 5.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">“Once I got hurt, it was a heartbreaking moment for me. I didn’t even wanna accept the truth…I’m just super happy to be a part of this, to give something to the team.”</p><p>⁃ Kristaps Porzingis 🗣️</p><p>(via <a href="https://twitter.com/danield1214?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@danield1214</a>) <a href="https://t.co/0N5vXvUbMv">pic.twitter.com/0N5vXvUbMv</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1802924168327168198?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 18, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>“From day one, when I came in, my mindset was, ‘I’m gonna give everything to this team and to this city to try to win a championship here,’ because I knew these guys had already been so close,” Porzingis said. “Once I got hurt, it was a heartbreaking moment for me. I didn’t even wanna accept the truth.”</p><p>Porzingis’s injury that he sustained in Game 2 against Dallas was a mouthful, a “torn medial retinaculum allowing dislocation of the posterior tibialis tendon,” the Celtics <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/celtics-news-kristaps-porzingis-gets-real-on-rare-injury-suffered-in-game-2-of-the-nba-finals-vs-mavs">said in an announcement</a>. He had already dealt with a calf injury on his other leg that ate into most of his playoffs. Injury luck always seems to escape Porzingis. Fortunately for the veteran big man, he will always be able to call himself a champion now no matter what happens.</p><h2><b>Kristaps Porzingis wins championship in first season with Celtics</b></h2><p>Porzingis had been in the playoffs before with the Mavs but spent a lot of seasons on losing teams with the New York Knicks and Washington Wizards. This season was his best chance by far to secure the ultimate prize. He did everything he could to play, coming through for the C’s. It took until the postgame celebration for the championship to register in his brian, as did some crazy celebrations from head coach Joe Mazzulla.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">“To be the last team standing. It feels amazing… Once we got back to the locker room and started celebrating, that’s when everybody realized that we actually did it… Joe [Mazzulla] is an animal.”</p><p>— Kristaps Porzingis 🗣️</p><p>(via <a href="https://twitter.com/danield1214?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@danield1214</a>) <a href="https://t.co/dn7r8eHYHO">pic.twitter.com/dn7r8eHYHO</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1802929187109384542?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 18, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>“It was a long road to get here, to be honest. To be the last team standing, it feels amazing. All that work paid off,” Porzingis said. “When I was still on the stage, it still felt surreal. Us, as a team, I feel like we couldn’t settle into that. Then, once we got back to the locker room and started celebrating, that’s when everybody realized that we actually did it. Joe is an animal.”</p><p>Kristaps Porzingis took to Twitter/X to <a href="https://x.com/kporzee/status/1802988514105020617" rel="noopener">express his love for Boston</a> and the significance of this accomplishment. He became the first Latvian-born player to win the NBA championship. The Celtics have him under contract for the next two seasons and should once again be the favorites to win the championship going forward. Whatever injury may strike has yet to be seen but he has the chance to add more hardware to his NBA career.</p><p> </p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Celtics’ Kristaps Porzingis dishes on playoff injury woes after NBA Finals win

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/celtics-news-is-kristaps-porzingis-playing-vs-mavericks-game-5-injury-update');   ga('set', 'title', 'Celtics star Kristaps Porzingis gets final injury update for Game 5 vs. Mavericks');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Is-Kristaps-Porzingis-playing-vs.-Mavericks-Latest-Game-5-injury-update.jpg"></figure><h1>Celtics star Kristaps Porzingis gets final injury update for Game 5 vs. Mavericks</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-06-17T15:30:06-07:00">June 17th, 3:30pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-06-17T15:47:58-07:00">June 17th, 3:47pm</time><address><a>Brett Siegel</a>Brett Siegel joined ClutchPoints as a credentialed NBA insider and reporter in May 2023 after previously covering the NBA for Fastbreak on FanNation and NBA Analysis Network, as well as working with Louisville Basketball. From playing to coaching to covering the game as a media member, Brett has been involved with the game of basketball from many different perspectives. Breaking the news of various free agent signings, yearly NBA Draft news and other key stories around the league, Brett is always on the phone, getting the latest news and rumors around the NBA. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @BrettSiegelNBA.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Whether or not Kristaps Porzingis plays for the Boston Celtics may not just be the difference in Game 5 of the 2024 NBA Finals, but the difference in how the rest of this series plays out. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/celtics-news-kristaps-porzingis-rare-injury-update-game-3-nba-finals">Porzingis suffered </a>a left posterior tibialis dislocation in Game 2 of this series, a rare injury that has not been presented with a clear timetable for recovery.</p><p>If this was the regular season, then Porzingis would’ve likely been ruled out for a few weeks. But the fact of the matter is that he has been moving around and is wanting to do everything in his power to be on the floor in the NBA Finals for the Celtics. This has led everyone to ask the question: Is Kristaps Porzingis is playing at home on Monday night in Game 5?</p><h2>Kristaps Porzingis injury update for Game 5 vs. Mavericks</h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Kristaps-Porzingis-warming-up.jpg"><figcaption>Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>Although he was considered “active” for Game 4 in Dallas, a potential closeout game in the NBA Finals, Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla said the star big man was only going to be used for <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/celtics-news-is-kristaps-porzingis-playing-vs-mavericks-latest-game-4-injury-update">situational purposes</a>. There was no clarity given as to what this meant, and Porzingis ended up sitting on the bench throughout the entirety of Boston’s 122-84 beatdown in Dallas.</p><p>The Mavericks now have a little bit of confidence after picking up their first win in this championship series, and they have been deadly on the road in these playoffs. It is never easy to win that fourth and final game in the NBA Finals, and the Celtics having to do so without Porzingis makes it even harder. As for whether the Celtics’ starting center is going to be able to play in Game 5, this remains the biggest mystery surrounding the 2024 NBA Finals.</p><p>Initially, Porzingis was listed as questionable to play in Game 5. However, he has since been upgraded to available.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">🚨 Kristaps Porzingis will be AVAILABLE for Game 5 of the Celtics-Mavs NBA Finals, the team announced. <a href="https://t.co/O6n2m5c4SH">pic.twitter.com/O6n2m5c4SH</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1802832944777900056?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 17, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>During media availability on Sunday, Mazzulla spoke to reporters about the team’s mindset and approach heading into a very important Game 5 on their home floor. Mazzulla, who was of course asked about the star’s status, made it clear that Porzingis has been <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/celtics-news-joe-mazzulla-kristaps-porzingis-injury-status-ahead-of-game-5">trying to prepare</a> for this matchup.</p><p>“I’m not sure kind of where he’s at,” Mazzulla stated after pointing out that he had not yet spoken with Porzingis prior to the team’s practice. “But he’s trying and doing everything he can to try to put himself in position to be out there. I know that for sure.”</p><p>Porzingis was not made available to the media and reporters on Sunday, but he has been seen walking around with no noticeable limp or limitations in his step. The good news for the Celtics is that Porzingis was active and ready to check in whenever his name was called during Game 4. Whether or not he would be the same impactful big man that he always is was the mystery left unsolved.</p><p>Xavier Tillman Sr., who has stepped up off the bench the last two games for the Celtics in the wake of Porzingis’ injury, told reporters on Sunday that he believes Boston’s star is still <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1802461717546336671" rel="noopener">dealing with</a> a lot of pain.</p><p>“We’ll see. Obviously, it’s a rare leg injury. If he’s in excruciating pain and can’t be himself it might not be worth it,” Tillman said regarding Porzingis making a return in this series, via Celtics reporter Noa Dalzell. “When we go through our practices and stuff like that, he’s doing some stuff, but you can tell he’s very uncomfortable. We don’t want to put him in any type of situation that could really, really hurt him.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">“Obviously it’s a rare leg injury… If he's in excruciating pain &amp; can't be himself it might not be worth it… He's doing some stuff but you can tell he's very uncomfortable."</p><p>Xavier Tillman gives an update on Kristaps Porzingis 😳</p><p>(via <a href="https://twitter.com/NoaDalzellNBA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NoaDalzellNBA</a>)<a href="https://t.co/CziD9Rg6Sb">pic.twitter.com/CziD9Rg6Sb</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1802461717546336671?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 16, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>It’s like that Porzingis will have the same status. However, with Tillman stepping up and Boston still holding a commanding 3-1 lead in this championship series, Mazzulla and his staff will very likely keep Porzingis on the bench for the duration of the game.</p><p>But when it comes to the question if Kristaps Porzingis is playing tonight in Game 5, the answer is maybe.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Celtics star Kristaps Porzingis gets final injury update for Game 5 vs. Mavericks

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/celtics-news-kristaps-porzingis-painful-injury-gets-truthful-take-boston-teammate');   ga('set', 'title', 'Kristaps Porzingis’ painful injury gets truthful take from Celtics teammate');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Kristaps-Porzingis-painful-injury-gets-truthful-take-from-Boston-teammate.jpg"></figure><h1>Kristaps Porzingis’ painful injury gets truthful take from Celtics teammate</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-06-16T18:46:43-07:00">June 16th, 6:46pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-06-17T07:47:08-07:00">June 17th, 7:47am</time><address><a href="https://nextmanupblog.medium.com/">Jay Postrado</a>Jay Postrado is a sports writer for ClutchPoints, with expertise in covering the NBA, NFL, MLB, Tennis, and Formula 1. He is a lifelong motorsports and tennis fan. Jay's need for speed may no longer be on the grid or courts but has stayed with him through writing.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The injury bug might have been manageable for the Boston Celtics on their road to the 2024 NBA Finals, but it has finally caught up to them against the Dallas Mavericks. The Celtics were subjected to one of the biggest blowouts on the largest stage in all of basketball, and more reinforcements would have helped. Head coach Joe Mazzulla had a revolving door of big men to compensate for the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/celtics-news-joe-mazzulla-kristaps-porzingis-injury-status-ahead-of-game-5">absence</a> of Kristaps Porzingis, with Al Horford and Xavier Tillman largely being the guys to shoulder that extra workload.</p><p>Obviously, the Celtics are a different team when they have Porzingis on the floor. His lethal and quick clip shot from outside makes opponents regret playing zone or any other scheme that leaves him open. The injury clearly bogged him down when he tried to play through it late in Game 2, which is why Mazzulla chose to not play him in Game 4 despite the fact he was made available. His status for Game 5 appears to be up in the air, which is why some <a href="https://x.com/ClutchPoints/status/1802461717546336671" rel="noopener">recent comments</a> from Tillman quickly caught the attention of Celtics’ fans everywhere.</p><blockquote>Obviously, it’s a rare leg injury. If he’s in excruciating pain &amp; can’t be his best, it might not be worth it. We go to practices and stuff. He’s doing some stuff but you can tell he’s very uncomfortable. Like I said, we don’t want to put him in any type of situation that could really hurt him. It’s been pretty much the same.</blockquote><h2><b>The Celtics have a big decision to make with Kristaps Porzingis in Game 5</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Boston-Celtics-center-Kristaps-Porzingis-8-reacts.jpg"><figcaption>© Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>Porzingis suffered a torn medial retinaculum in Boston’s Game 2 win over Dallas. There are only a few cases of this documented in the world of sports, so it’s made an already complex situation for the Celtics medical team even more difficult. Understandably, this is going to be a long and grueling process of recovery for Porzingis. This is why his availability for Game 4 was such a surprise for fans.</p><p>Prior to this injury, Porzingis was already having his fair share of injury issues. He suffered a calf injury in Game 4 of the Celtics first-round series against the Miami Heat, which held him out of action all the way up until Game 1 of the Finals against the Mavs. And then in only his second game back, he suffered this injury which has thrown his status for the rest of the series in doubt.</p><p>Game 4 was then a <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/celtics-news-is-kristaps-porzingis-playing-vs-mavericks-latest-game-4-injury-update">wake-up call</a> for the rest of his Celtics teammates. They were demolished by a score of 122-84 and ended up waving the white flag in the third quarter. If there truly is a lot of discomfort and pain coursing through Porzingis, no gamble should be made regarding his health, despite the outcome of the latest game. Schemes and rotations are going to be left in shambles if the Celtics choose to play him while he struggles. More importantly, a lot of years in his career could be lost due to this risky decision. There are a lot of reasons to love and trust the Celtics. They have made the right calls before and are capable of making one in the coming days for Porzingis.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Kristaps Porzingis’ painful injury gets truthful take from Celtics teammate

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/celtics-news-joe-mazzulla-kristaps-porzingis-injury-status-ahead-of-game-5');   ga('set', 'title', 'Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla updates Kristaps Porzingis’ injury status ahead of Game 5');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Joe-Mazzulla-updates-Kristaps-Porzingis-injury-status-ahead-of-Game-5.jpg"></figure><h1>Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla updates Kristaps Porzingis’ injury status ahead of Game 5</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-06-16T11:20:46-07:00">June 16th, 11:20am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-06-16T11:20:46-07:00">June 16th, 11:20am</time><address><a>Jackson Stone</a>Jackson Stone is a Mercer University senior from Atlanta on track to graduate with a BA in communications. A lifelong sports lover, Jackson is a die-hard fan of all Atlanta teams. He joined ClutchPoints in 2023.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>On Friday evening, Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics took the court in Dallas with a chance to sweep the Mavericks and win the franchise’s first championship in 16 years with a Game 4 victory. Instead, the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mavericks-vs-celtics-game-5-results-according-to-nba-2k24">Celtics put together</a> far and away their worst performance of the postseason so far, with <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/jayson-tatum-gets-honest-on-what-doomed-celtics-in-game-4">Tatum and his</a> fellow starters being pulled out of the game by head coach Joe Mazzulla before the third quarter even ended and the deficit reaching as high as 48 (!) points at one point in the contest.</p><p>This all <a href="https://x.com/ClutchPoints/status/1802388691358199856" rel="noopener">sets the stage</a> for Game 5 on Monday evening from Boston, where the crowd will be decidedly less hostile to the Celtics’ cause and Boston will have a chance to close out the title in front of their home fans.</p><p>One major storyline of this series so far has been the health of Celtics big man Kristaps Porzingis, who was injured in the team’s Game 2 victory and did not appear in either of the games in Dallas with a rare lower leg injury.</p><p>On Sunday, Mazzulla did not exactly have a very specific update for Celtics fans hoping to know whether or not the Latvian star would be back out there on Monday evening.</p><p>“He’s trying. He’s doing everything he can to put himself in position to be out there,” said Mazzulla, per Daniel Donabedian of ClutchPoints on X, the social media platform formerly referred to as Twitter.</p><p>It’s worth noting that for the Celtics’ Game 3 victory, Porzingis was listed as out before the contest began, while in Game 4, he was listed as available and did suit up, but never saw any playing time in the blowout loss.</p><h2><b>Can the Celtics close it out on Monday?</b></h2><p>Pretty much everything that could have gone wrong for the Celtics on Friday evening in Dallas did go wrong. None of the starters played well at all, and the usually stable Jrue Holiday committed five turnovers, giving Dallas some unneeded momentum.</p><p>The Mavericks, on the other hand, played with the desperation you would expect from a team looking to avoid having their season ended, and the Dallas role players all stepped up in a much bigger way than they had in their previous three defeats.</p><p>The good news for the Celtics is that they still have four out of the six best players in this series even without Porzingis and should get a boost from playing in front of their home fans, even if some of the more loyal ones may have been priced out by TD Garden’s insane ticket prices.</p><p>Game 5 is set for 8:30 PM ET.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla updates Kristaps Porzingis’ injury status ahead of Game 5

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/celtics-news-is-kristaps-porzingis-playing-vs-mavericks-latest-game-4-injury-update');   ga('set', 'title', 'Celtics’ Kristaps Porzingis available in NBA Finals Game 4, but there’s a catch');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Celtics-news-Is-Kristaps-Porzingis-playing-vs.jpg"></figure><h1>Celtics’ Kristaps Porzingis available in NBA Finals Game 4, but there’s a catch</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-06-14T16:00:18-07:00">June 14th, 4:00pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-06-14T16:13:08-07:00">June 14th, 4:13pm</time><address><a href="https://letterboxd.com/splooshpuhrty/films/by/your-rating/">Jedd Pagaduan</a>Jedd Pagaduan is a certified Clippers and Gunners fan, which means he's a very sports-traumatized individual. He now writes about sports instead as a form of therapy.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Kristaps Porzingis made his triumphant return for the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of the 2024 NBA Finals after he missed 10 consecutive playoff games — which spanned from Game 6 of the first round until the end of the Eastern Conference Finals — due to a calf strain.</p><p>However, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/celtics-news-kristaps-porzingis-rare-injury-update-game-3-nba-finals">Porzingis sustained a “rare” injury</a> in Game 2 that kept him out of Game 3. The question now is, is Porzingis playing for the Celtics in their closeout game against the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night?</p><p>Porzingis’ return could not have come at a better time, especially given the revenge narrative surrounding him in a Finals matchup against his former team. In Game 1, Porzingis showed the Mavericks what they were missing, much to the Celtics’ delight. He put up 11 points in the first quarter as the Celtics built a sturdy double-digit lead that they would not relinquish.</p><p>The 7-foot-3 Latvian international finished that game with 20 points despite coming off the bench, proving that the Celtics’ decision not to insert him straight back into the starting lineup correct.</p><p>In Game 2, Porzingis tallied 12 points and four rebounds in a seven-point win, but he came <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/celtics-news-kristaps-porzingis-gets-real-on-rare-injury-suffered-in-game-2-of-the-nba-finals-vs-mavs">out of the game limping,</a> which gave Celtics fans great cause for concern that he may have re-aggravated the injury that kept him out earlier in the playoffs.</p><p>The truth, however, ended up being more bizarre than anyone had initially thought. Shams Charania of The Athletic reported that Porzingis had sustained a torn medial retinaculum, which allowed dislocation of the posterior tibialis tendon, putting his status for Game 3 in doubt. Soon enough, he was ruled out for Game 3 — with a return looking unlikely.</p><p>Nonetheless, crazier things have happened in the NBA in the past. With a chance to win the Celtics’ 18th championship in franchise history in Game 4 against the Mavericks, fans will want to know the answer to the question of, is Kristaps Porzingis playing in Game 4 of the 2024 NBA Finals on Friday night?</p><p><b><i>*Watch NBA games LIVE with fuboTV </i></b><a href="https://www.fubo.tv/lp/nba/?irad=356361&amp;irmp=492408" rel="noopener sponsored"><b><i>(click for a free trial)*</i></b></a></p><h2><b>Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis’ injury status for Game 4 vs. Mavericks</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Kristaps-Porzingis-dunking.jpg"></figure><p>Initially, the Celtics have listed Kristaps Porzingis as “questionable” <a href="https://ak-static.cms.nba.com/referee/injury/Injury-Report_2024-06-14_07AM.pdf" rel="noopener">on the injury report</a>. He has since been upgraded to available, but head coach Joe Mazzulla said that the big man will “only be <a href="https://x.com/TimBontemps/status/1801752015724261719" rel="noopener">used in specific instances</a>, if necessary,” per Tim Bontemps of ESPN.</p><p>While many experts and analysts deemed a return for Porzingis as unlikely, it’s definitely great to see him doing well and taking part in Game 4 even in a limited capacity.</p><p>Porzingis’ listed injury on the latest report submitted to the league is described as a dislocated left posterior tibialis. A quick study on the matter shows that the posterior tibialis is the deepest muscle in the rear compartment of the lower leg. An <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/celtics-news-doctors-explain-kristaps-porzingis-rare-injury-recovery-timeline">injury to this body part</a> causes pain around the inside of the ankle as well as the tendon near the heel.</p><p>Given how much feet movement overall is required in the game of basketball, it will be difficult for Kristaps Porzingis to play through this kind of injury.</p><p>He wasn’t already the most mobile defensive player, usually playing drop coverage as he doesn’t have the lateral quickness to stick with guards on the perimeter, so playing at less than 100 percent could make him a target for the Mavericks to exploit in screening actions.</p><p>Porzingis said that he would be <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/celtics-center-kristaps-porzingis-concerning-calf-injury-get-critical-joe-mazzulla-update">willing to “die”</a> on the court just to help the Celtics in their bid to win it all. However, for Game 4, the urgency isn’t yet at its highest. This is not an all hands-on-deck situation yet for the Celtics.</p><p>In Game 3, they did just fine with Porzingis out. Even though Xavier Tillman Sr. had barely played non-garbage-time minutes in the playoffs this season, he performed well in Game 3 as the main Celtics big man off the bench.</p><p>Tillman has good mobility on the perimeter for his size, allowing him to stay with Luka Doncic on a couple of drives. He even swatted one of his shots and altered a few more. And in a huge momentum-builder for the Celtics, Tillman even hit a three, making the Mavericks pay for disrespecting him and leaving him wide open.</p><p>With Porzingis limited, expect Tillman to continue playing huge minutes off the bench for the Celtics in Game 4. Given Mazzulla’s statement, the answer to the question of is Kristaps Porzingis playing tonight vs. the Celtics is most likely yes.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Celtics’ Kristaps Porzingis available in NBA Finals Game 4, but there’s a catch

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/celtics-news-kristaps-porzingis-game-4-injury-status-major-update');   ga('set', 'title', 'Kristaps Porzingis’ Game 4 injury status receives major update');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Kristaps-Porzingis-Game-4-injury-status-receives-major-update.jpg"></figure><h1>Kristaps Porzingis’ Game 4 injury status receives major update</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-06-13T09:16:15-07:00">June 13th, 9:16am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-06-13T09:17:39-07:00">June 13th, 9:17am</time><address><a>Brett Siegel</a>Brett Siegel joined ClutchPoints as a credentialed NBA insider and reporter in May 2023 after previously covering the NBA for Fastbreak on FanNation and NBA Analysis Network, as well as working with Louisville Basketball. From playing to coaching to covering the game as a media member, Brett has been involved with the game of basketball from many different perspectives. Breaking the news of various free agent signings, yearly NBA Draft news and other key stories around the league, Brett is always on the phone, getting the latest news and rumors around the NBA. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @BrettSiegelNBA.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Kristaps Porzingis can’t catch a break with injuries. After suffering a calf injury in Game 4 of the Boston Celtics’ first-round series against the Miami Heat, Porzingis missed 10 straight games. He had to watch the Celtics clinch their trip to the NBA Finals while sitting on the bench. Although he played in the first two games of the NBA Finals against the Dallas Mavericks, making a big impact off the bench, it was recently revealed that <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/celtics-news-kristaps-porzingis-gets-real-on-rare-injury-suffered-in-game-2-of-the-nba-finals-vs-mavs">Porzingis suffered a torn medial retinaculum</a> allowing dislocation of the posterior tibialis tendon in his left leg.</p><p>This very rare leg injury ultimately resulted in the Celtics’ medical staff <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/celtics-kristaps-porzingis-nba-finals-status-update-after-game-3-absence">keeping the star big man sidelined</a> for Boston’s 106-99 Game 3 victory in Dallas on Wednesday. With Porzingis’ status very much uncertain for the remainder of the series, some light was shed on his possible return.</p><p>In the aftermath of taking a 3-0 series lead over the Mavericks, just one game away from winning a championship, The Athletic’s Shams Charania states that Porzingis could <a href="https://x.com/RunItBackFDTV/status/1801258038478668055" rel="noopener">possibly return</a> for Game 4 on Friday night.</p><p>“I’m told there is a chance Kristaps Porzingis plays in Game 4,” Charania stated on FanDuel’s Run It Back Thursday morning. “He is moving and he is doing workouts. He worked out yesterday. The Celtics’ medical staff just did not feel like he was going to be ready for a game-like environment, but he did work out and is expected to do more today.”</p><p>Porzingis was a huge factor in the two Finals games he has played. After scoring 20 points off the bench in Game 1, Porzingis came back with a 12-point, two-block performance in Game 2. He has proven to be Boston’s ultimate X-factor, not just in this series but this entire year.</p><p>If he is able to return, Porzingis would immediately put the Celtics in a better spot to sweep the Mavs en route to their 18th championship in team history. No team has won four straight games in the NBA Finals since the Golden State Warriors did so to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2018.</p><p>With Porzings on the court, this would be very possible for the Celtics to achieve.</p><h2><b>Celtics secure Game 3 win without Kristaps Porzingis</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Kristaps-Porzingis-running-down-court.jpg"><figcaption>Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>The Celtics trailed by as many as 13 points early on in the first quarter of Wednesday night’s Game 3 in Dallas. Ultimately, they were able to settle down and turn a one-point halftime deficit into a 21-point lead in the second half.</p><p>However, after appearing to be on cruise control heading towards the finish line, it was Luka Doncic and the Mavs who went on a run. The Celtics saw their lead go from 21 points to 15 points at the end of the third quarter, and then that 15-point lead was cut to just six points over a five-minute span to begin the final quarter of play.</p><p>Even with Dallas storming back and looking like they were going to steal a victory, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/celtics-news-jayson-tatum-touching-message-jaylen-brown-game-3-win-mavericks">Boston held on</a> to take a commanding 3-0 series lead. Despite not having Porzingis, the Celtics were able to pick up this critical win due to their depth.</p><p>“I would say both teams have a lot of talent. So I think you have to have talent to get to this spot. That’s a given if you want to make it this far,” head coach Joe Mazzulla said in his postgame remarks. “But our guys have a great basketball IQ and have a great understanding of are we playing the right way, taking the right shots and giving up the right shot. They know exactly when we are not doing that.”</p><p>Without Porzingis on the floor, the Celtics did look a little lost at times offensively. On defense, they did not have their rim protector in the paint, which the Mavericks took advantage of early on by getting to the rim and throwing lobs to Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford.</p><p>At the end of the day, talent prevailed for the Celtics, and their confidence is sky-high <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/celtics-news-boston-fans-call-sweep-after-surviving-mavericks-game-3-comeback">heading into Game 4</a> on Friday night. For Mazzulla, the message of staying locked in and understanding that the series is not over just yet will be echoed consistently over the next 48 hours.</p><p>“You have to expect the expected. You’ve got to understand we are just as vulnerable if not more vulnerable than they are. And we have to play that way,” Mazzulla continued. “So as long as we have that mindset, and when you understand that you’re vulnerable and your back’s against the wall, you’ve got to fight.</p><p>“That’s the mindset that we have to have.”</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Kristaps Porzingis’ Game 4 injury status receives major update

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/celtics-kristaps-porzingis-nba-finals-status-update-after-game-3-absence');   ga('set', 'title', 'Celtics big man Kristaps Porzingis’ NBA Finals status gets brutal update after Game 3 absence');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Kristaps-Porzingis-NBA-Finals-status-gets-brutal-update-after-Game-3-absence.jpg"></figure><h1>Celtics big man Kristaps Porzingis’ NBA Finals status gets brutal update after Game 3 absence</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-06-12T17:32:30-07:00">June 12th, 5:32pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-06-12T17:32:30-07:00">June 12th, 5:32pm</time><address><a>Peter Sampson</a>Peter Sampson is ClutchPoints' Portland Trail Blazers reporter and also serves as an Associate Editor. He has been covering all things sports (with a focus on the Blazers) for more than a decade, most recently hosting "The Pulse with Peter Sampson" in Afternoon Drive for 750 The Game. Prior to that, he hosted an NBA wrap-up show that aired immediately at the conclusion of every Trail Blazers game. Peter had previous stops at Blazer's Edge and XRAY.FM - where his show "Blazer's Edge Radio" was named "Portland's Best Sports Radio" in the 2017 Willamette Week reader's poll. When he's not telling the stories of your favorite sports team, Peter can be found recording the next garage rock classic in his basement studio, whipping up an authentic Italian meal in the kitchen, or trying to figure out the appeal of Minecraft with his 9-year-old son in the living room.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Boston Celtics are preparing for Game 3 of the NBA Finals against the Dallas Mavericks, and they’ll be without big man Kristaps Porzingis due to his relatively rare injury.</p><p>Now, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, there is a real fear that the Celtics <a href="https://x.com/ClutchPoints/status/1801040843047837867" rel="noopener">could be without</a> Porzingis for the remainder of the NBA Finals.</p><p>Porzingis had been listed as questionable for Game 3 on Wednesday, with the idea that he would warm up and see how he felt before the Celtics made a final determination. He was ruled out fairly quickly in advance of the game.</p><p>Porzingis had just returned from a calf issue in Game 1 of the series. He initially sustained that calf injury in Game 2 of Boston’s first-round series win over the Miami Heat and had been sidelined ever since. He showed no lingering effects of the injury, rattling off 20 points in 21 minutes in the Celtics’ blowout Game 1 victory over the Mavericks. He also looked good in Game 2, posting a game-high plus-12 in 23 minutes while adding 12 points.</p><p>Porzingis’ current injury is unrelated to the right calf strain. His official injury designation is a torn medial retinaculum that allowed dislocation of the posterior tibialis tendon in Porzingis’ right leg.</p><p>Sports injury expert Jeff Stotts, founder of InStreetClothes, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/celtics-news-doctors-explain-kristaps-porzingis-rare-injury-recovery-timeline">offered further clairification</a>.</p><p>“Re: Porzingis: The medial retinaculum is connective tissue that serves as the roof of the tarsal tunnel (think carpal tunnel but in the foot). It anchors multiple structures in place, including the tendon of the posterior tibialis,” he wrote on Twitter. “If the retrinaculum is torn, the tendon can shift out of place (dislocate), causing pain and instability of the ankle and foot. I only have one real comp in my database but it was in conjunction with other traumatic ankle injuries that required surgery.”</p><h2><b>Celtics look to go up 3-0 over Mavericks in NBA Finals</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Tatum-Holiday.jpg"><figcaption>© David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>The Celtics have taken the first two games of the series over the Mavericks behind their suffocating defense. While Dallas star Luka Doncic has been able to get going and have his usual offensive impact, the rest of the team has struggled. Star point guard Kyrie Irving has averaged only 14 points per game and has yet to make a 3-pointer through the first two games of the series.</p><p>That comes down to defense, the Celtics’ calling card all season long. In game 2, the Mavs had a chance to make it a one possession game with just under a minute to go, when Derrick White<a href="https://clutchpoints.com/celtics-news-derrick-white-reveals-secret-crucial-blocks"> swooped in for a chase-down block</a> to seal the game.</p><p>Said White on how he’s able to make such key blocks, “I don’t really have a fear of getting dunked on… You just gotta realize that if you play this game long enough, it’s gonna happen. Especially at this level… Aaron Nesmith dunked on me earlier in the year and that was pretty bad. That’s my guy too.”</p><p>The Celtics are now just two wins from winning the 2024 NBA Finals behind the strength of their team defense.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Celtics big man Kristaps Porzingis’ NBA Finals status gets brutal update after Game 3 absence

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/celtics-news-kristaps-porzingis-final-status-update-nba-finals-game-3-after-rare-injury');   ga('set', 'title', 'Celtics’ Kristaps Porzingis gets final status update for NBA Finals Game 3 after ‘rare’ injury');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/QP-ASAP-Celtics-news-Kristaps-Porzingis-gets-final-status-update-after-rare-injury.jpg"></figure><h1>Celtics’ Kristaps Porzingis gets final status update for NBA Finals Game 3 after ‘rare’ injury</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-06-12T15:57:56-07:00">June 12th, 3:57pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-06-12T16:27:51-07:00">June 12th, 4:27pm</time><address><a>Angelo Guinhawa</a>Angelo Guinhawa is a senior associate editor at ClutchPoints, primarily covering the NBA, NFL, soccer, and college sports. He has previously worked for FOX Sports PH and a number of reputable sports media outlets. If he's not writing or watching sports, he's likely scouring online for his next NBA card purchase.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Boston Celtics big man Kristaps Porzingis has been officially ruled out for Game 3 of the NBA Finals against the Dallas Mavericks <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/celtics-news-kristaps-porzingis-gets-real-on-rare-injury-suffered-in-game-2-of-the-nba-finals-vs-mavs">due to the “rare” injury</a> he suffered in Game 2.</p><p>For those who missed it, Porzingis sustained a torn medial retinaculum, which caused a dislocation of the posterior tibialis tendon in his left leg. He was initially listed as questionable for Game 3, but there had always been fears that he could sit out as a result.</p><p>While Porzingis is deemed day-to-day with the injury–suggesting that the issue isn’t that significant–the fact that <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1801023228925599981">he’s been ruled out</a> highlights that the Celtics are being cautious when it comes to his condition. It is worth noting that KP missed a huge chunk of their playoff run (10 games, 38 days) due to a calf strain and just returned in time for the NBA Finals in Game 1.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/celtics-news-kristaps-porzingis-hopeful-game-3-update-rare-injury">Porzingis reportedly wanted</a> to play badly in the contest as they make the trip to Dallas after taking a 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals, but obviously, the Celtics want to give him more time to recover.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Kristaps Porzingis is OUT for Game 3 of the NBA Finals against the Mavs, the Celtics announced. <a href="https://t.co/GwpH9ePPPf">pic.twitter.com/GwpH9ePPPf</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1801023228925599981?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 12, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><h2><b>What Celtics said about Kristaps Porzingis’ injury</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Kristaps-Porzingis-3-1.jpg"><figcaption>Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>Kristaps Porzingis’ status for Game 3 has been a major talking point on Tuesday when both the Celtics and Mavericks addressed the media.</p><p>Joe Mazzulla sparked some fears when he said that it’s a “serious” injury, but the Celtics head coach did point out that Porzingis was “doing anything and everything he can to be ready” for Game 3).</p><p>“At the end of the day, our team and medical team is not going to put him in any bad situations. We’ve taken the decision to play out of his hands because the importance of him. He’s going to do everything he can to play. We’re going to leave it up to our medical team. That’s really it,” Mazzulla added.</p><p>Porzingis echoed the same sentiments as his head coach when asked about his injury. He also admitted that the issue occurred so randomly after he bumped knees with Mavericks center Dereck Lively II. Porzingis left the third quarter in the final minute and played less than four minutes in the final period as he was clearly bothered by the injury.</p><p>“It’s kind of a random situation. I felt something, and now I have to deal with it. As we said, it’s going to be day-to-day, and I’ll see how I am tomorrow, and obviously I’m going to do everything I can to be out there tomorrow, and we’ll see,” Porzingis said.</p><p>With Porzingis out, Al Horford is expected to continue starting for the Celtics. However, the absence of the Latvian big man could be a huge blow to Boston, especially considering how huge he was in the first two games of the NBA Finals. Porzingis scored 20 points and tallied six rebounds and three blocks in Game 1, while he had 12 in his limited action in Game 2.</p><p>The Celtics should still be able to compete even without the sharpshooting forward, but it will definitely be a little more difficult, especially against a hungry and motivated Mavericks team that has their backs against the wall.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Celtics’ Kristaps Porzingis gets final status update for NBA Finals Game 3 after ‘rare’ injury

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/celtics-news-paul-pierce-confident-celtics-chances-even-if-kristaps-porzingis-misses-time');   ga('set', 'title', 'Paul Pierce confident in Celtics’ chances despite Kristaps Porzingis injury');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Paul-Pierce-confident-in-Bostons-chances-despite-Kristaps-Porzingis-injury-concern.jpg"></figure><h1>Paul Pierce confident in Celtics’ chances despite Kristaps Porzingis injury</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-06-12T14:19:19-07:00">June 12th, 2:19pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-06-12T14:19:19-07:00">June 12th, 2:19pm</time><address><a>Jackson Stone</a>Jackson Stone is a Mercer University senior from Atlanta on track to graduate with a BA in communications. A lifelong sports lover, Jackson is a die-hard fan of all Atlanta teams. He joined ClutchPoints in 2023.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>On Wednesday evening, Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics will look to take a commanding 3-0 lead in their NBA Finals series vs the Dallas Mavericks, a deficit from which no team in NBA history has ever come back. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/celtics-news-paul-pierce-stirs-pot-jaylen-brown-jayson-tatum">Tatum has not</a> shot the ball well at all in these finals but is finding other ways to get involved, including opening up space for his <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-derrick-white-contract-plans-pose-major-problem-celtics">Celtics teammates like</a> Jrue Holiday and Jaylen Brown to feast on an overmatched Mavericks defense.</p><p>At the end of Game 2 on Sunday evening, the Celtics got an injury scare when big man Kristaps Porzingis–who just recently returned from a calf injury that sidelined him for the majority of the play0ffs–suffered a rare lower leg injury that is apparently unrelated to the calf setback. The injury <a href="https://x.com/undisputed/status/1800901201828958448" rel="noopener">put his status</a> in doubt for Game 3, but one person who thinks that the Celtics can still win two out of the next five games without the Latvian star is none other than franchise legend Paul Pierce, who recently took to FS1’s <i>Undisputed </i>to relay his thoughts.</p><p>“Check this out. When Porzingis misses games, we’re 9-1 in the playoffs. Regular season, 21-4. That makes us 30-5 without Porzingis. Am I worried? A little bit,” said Pierce, via UNDISPUTED on X, the social media platform formerly referred to as Twitter. “A little bit because he just adds such a dimension that we don’t have. He definitely changed Game 1… but in saying that, the Celtics are comfortable without him in the lineup… It’s not a demoralizing blow.”</p><h2><b>Can the Celtics close the deal?</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Porzingis-during-Game-2.jpg"><figcaption>Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>Indeed, even without Kristaps Porzingis in the lineup, the Celtics clearly still have more talent overall than the Mavericks, although the gap does get a bit more narrow. As of Game 2, the Celtics have had five out of the six best players in the series so far, with only Dallas’ Luka Doncic able to give the Mavericks any sort of consistent energy offensively, while he’s been blown by consistently on the other end of the floor.</p><p>Former Celtics guard Kyrie Irving has now lost twelve straight games vs his old team since defeating them in the 2021 playoffs with the Brooklyn Nets, and his shooting struggles in this series so far have given continued legitimacy to the notion that the Celtics fans are in his head whenever he plays in TD Garden.</p><p>Meanwhile, the Mavericks’ role players, including Derrick Jones Jr., Derrick Lively, and to a lesser extent PJ Washington, have all underperformed so far in this series, or perhaps it was that they overperformed on the Mavericks’ playoff run thus far and are now careening back toward earth at the worst time. In any case, those players will all have to step up and help Doncic if the Mavericks are going to get one win in this series, let alone win four out of the next five, which seems pretty impossible at this point in time.</p><p>In any case, Game 3 is set for Wednesday at 8:30 PM ET.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

2023-24 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
20.1	7.2	2.0	1.9	0.7

2023-24 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
20.1	7.2	2.0	1.9	0.7

Kristaps Porziņģis news

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