Porzingis offers an update on his ankle injury sustained during the Celtics-Heat game.
Kristaps Porzingis of the Boston Celtics was carried to the locker room to rest his ankle after landing awkwardly in the third quarter of Thursday night’s game against the Miami Heat at Kaseya Center.
With little over seven minutes remaining in the third, Porzingis went up to defend a jumper against Heat center Bam Adebayo. His left foot fell on top of Adebayo’s foot, which caused his ankle to buckle.
Shortly after the play, Porzingis staggered to the bench, where club officials assisted him into the locker room. He was categorized as doubtful for return due to a left ankle sprain. Porzingis returned to the bench at the start of the fourth quarter but did not return to the game, as the Celtics had already built a 23-point lead en route to a 143-110 victory.
Prior to his departure, Porzingis had a tremendous start, scoring 19 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field and 3-of-4 from deep, while also grabbing four rebounds and providing an assist. The 7-foot-2 Latvian provided a promising report on his injuries following the game, stating that he could have returned to the game if necessary.
“Not too bad,” Porzingis said of his ankle. “It got me pretty good in the moment, but I’m feeling pretty good now.
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“… I believe tomorrow will be clearer about how things are going, especially after the flight and all that. But right now, I’m feeling really fantastic. I’m just trying to be optimistic.”
Porzingis has a lengthy injury history, frequently missing significant portions of a season. While he appeared in 65 games for the Washington Wizards last season, Porzingis has struggled to remain healthy since suffering an ACL tear while playing for the New York Knicks in 2017-18. After missing the whole 2018-19 season, the big man appeared in only 202 of the 410 games during the next five seasons.
Boston’s next game is against the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday night at TD Garden.
