Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis isn’t giving up on the 2024 postseason.
Boston Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis could miss the entirety of the Eastern Conference Semifinals due to a right soleus strain. However, the injury he suffered on Monday during a Game 4 win over the Miami Heat hasn’t curbed his sense of humor.
On Saturday morning, the Latvian big man clarified to the media that he has no specific return date yet, per Celtics in-house writer Taylor Snow.
“There’s no like specific date, obviously. It’s still pretty early. I think it will be clearer once I start doing more stuff … But yeah, not super close yet,” he stated.
Porzingis then followed up this discouraging comment with a much more lighthearted remark:
“But expecting to recover at a historic rate,” he said with a grin.
Kristaps Porzingis says there’s no specific target date for his return, but adds with a smile that he’s “expecting to recover at a historic rate.” pic.twitter.com/mJLORu0tWP
— Taylor Snow (@taylorcsnow) May 4, 2024
The 2018 All-Star was Boston’s third-leading scorer during the regular season and a huge boon on both ends of the floor. His length and shot-blocking punish opposing offenses, as he had six blocks through his first three postseason games against the Heat.
Losing Porzingis is a significant blow for the C’s, who were relatively healthy throughout the 2023-24 regular season.
“I’m not going to lie, it’s tough,” Porzingis admitted when asked about suffering from an injury at such an important time. “It gets you down for a second, but it is what it is. It’s part of the sport. These things happen. And the best I can do now is, ‘Okay, what’s the next thing I have to do to get healthy as soon as possible and follow the plan and make sure I do everything and just getting in that mindset.’ Because I can’t change what happened in the game … So, just looking forward to making quick steps toward being back on the court.”
Although Porzingis’ timeline isn’t clear, he’ll certainly miss Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals on Tuesday.
“It will take a little bit of time for sure,” he said of a potential return to play. “But I’m doing everything I can to speed it up because I want to be back out there as soon as possible. But I’m understanding that the worst thing would be, probably to reaggravate that … I’m kind of just following the plan, but, yeah, hoping for a return as soon as I start to get better.”
Who the Celtics end up facing in the second round remains to be seen.
Who will the Celtics play in the second round of the playoffs?
Boston will either square off with the Cleveland Cavaliers or the Orlando Magic in the next round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs.
On Sunday afternoon, a Game 7 between the fourth-seeded Cavs and fifth-seeded Magic will decide who earns the right to play the C’s. This series has been very back-and-forth, as the home team has prevailed in every game thus far.
The Cavs had an opportunity to advance on Friday night in Orlando, yet they fell 103-96 and lost their 3-2 series lead. Cavs star Donovan Mitchell even had 50 points in Game 6, but it wasn’t enough to stop a balanced attack from Magic starters Paolo Banchero, Jalen Suggs, and Franz Wagner who had 75 points altogether.
THE MAGIC GET THE MUCH-NEEDED WIN OVER THE CAVS AND FORCE GAME 7! 🍿
Paolo Banchero: 27 pts, 7 reb, 4 ast, 9-of-20 FG
Franz Wagner: 26 pts, 5 reb, 2 ast, 7-of-16 FG
Jalen Suggs: 22 pts, 6 reb, 4 ast, 6-of-13 3PT pic.twitter.com/gzMDjbJEED— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) May 4, 2024
During the 2023-24 campaign, the Celtics won the season series against the Cavs and Magic. Yet, both teams were able to defeat the C’s once, with Orlando winning 113-96 in late November and Cleveland storming back to get a 105-104 victory in March.
11 of the last 12 meetings between the Celtics and Cavs have been decided by single digits. Despite these tight battles, the two Eastern Conference foes haven’t played each other in the playoffs since the 2018 Eastern Conference Finals.
Conversely, the last four meetings between the Celtics and Magic have all been decided by double digits. The playoff history between these two franchises is pretty limited, as they’ve only encountered each other in three series total, with the last one being back in 2010 during the Eastern Conference Finals.
No matter who Boston plays, it’ll be challenged, especially without Porzingis for the foreseeable future. Regardless, the Celtics’ journey for Banner No. 18 marches on with stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown at the helm once more.
