Kristaps Porzingis injury: Celtics center ‘fighting like hell to play’ in Game 4, coach Joe Mazzulla says

Kristaps Porzingis played an enormous role in the Boston Celtics‘ first two wins of the 2024 NBA Finals, and, after he suffered a rare lower leg injury — he tore his medial retinaculum and dislocated his posterior tibialis tendon in his left leg, the team announced — the Celtics managed to take a 3-0 lead in the series without him. In theory, the win bought Boston time: Given that it only has to win one of the next four games against the Dallas Mavericks to clinch the championship, it can afford to take a more cautious approach with Porzingis.

Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla, however, does not see it this way. On Thursday, he told reporters that what’s happening in the series will not affect how they manage Porzingis’ injury in any way.

“No, I think that’s a rather passive way to look at things,” Mazzulla said. “I think, at the end of the day, we have to continue to do what we do. Kristaps has gotten better from yesterday to today. He’s fighting like hell to play, but it’s going to be up to us to protect him and to make sure that it’s in the best interest for him as a player and a person. And none of that — going into what’s best for a player and a person has nothing to do with where we’re at from a basketball standpoint.”

According to the initial injury announcement, Porzingis’ availability will be determined on a day-to-day basis. When Boston submits its official injury report in advance of Friday’s Game 4, you can expect him to be listed as questionable, regardless of how badly the big man wants to play.

On Tuesday, the last time Porzingis talked to reporters, he said he would “do everything I can to be out there,” but Boston’s medical staff would ultimately make the decision. Shortly before Wednesday’s game, Mazzulla said that the medical staff had “watched him kind of go through some testing,” and “he didn’t look right,” so he had to sit.

If Porzingis can move well, he could potentially give the Celtics a boost when they try to finish off the Mavericks on the road. As they showed earlier in this series, his deep range, rim protection and ability to punish mismatches give them a dynamic they don’t have with anybody else in the middle. They’ve been without him for most of this playoff run, though, and they got good minutes from Xavier Tillman off the bench in Game 3. If Boston determines it’s not safe for him to return, the team should still be confident that it can get the job done.

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