BOSTON Celtics big man Kristaps Porzingis can breathe a sigh of relief after the latest update on his calf injury.
The 28-year-old Latvian center left the Celtics’ 102-88 first-round loss at the Miami Heat on Monday after a right calf injury.
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Near the end of the second quarter, Porzingis appeared to twist his ankle, which caused him to limp briefly before continuing.
Shortly after, he stopped abruptly and signaled to the bench before walking to the locker room.
After being considered doubtful to return by Boston, a subsequent report gave fans a glimmer of hope that Porzingis had avoided a serious injury.
“Boston Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis (right calf) will undergo imaging on Tuesday, but early indications are that he has not suffered an Achilles injury,” ESPN tweeted. Adrian Wojnarowski.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Celts revealed that the former NBA All-Star suffered a soleus strain, ruling him out of Game 5 against Miami.
“Thank God it’s not too serious,” commented one fan on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“Take my Soleus!!! Whatever it is,” he joked for a second.
“I don’t need it tomorrow, close it and let it rest”, suggested another.
A sentiment echoed by many, including one who said the Celtics “shouldn’t really need him until the NBA Finals.
“That being said, I think the Celtics beat anyone in the league in a best-of-7, even without him.”
Whether Porzingis is sidelined for one game or multiple games, head coach Joe Mazzulla will be forced to come up with a plan to deal with his loss either way.
But when it comes to the pressure to perform well, Mazzulla assured fans that this defeat doesn’t change anything.
“Bringing the same mentality, intentionality, toughness and details to the next game, regardless of who is available, doesn’t matter,” he told reporters on Monday.
“There is no difference between the regular season and the Playoffs and all year long we have had players stepping in and playing.
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“So the most important thing is to execute the game plan and bring the necessary mindset and toughness.”
The 3-1 Celtics will host Miami on Wednesday in a potentially series-deciding game.
If they can’t get the job done without Porzingis, they’ll return to Miami on Friday for Game 6.
There is no difference between the regular season and the Playoffs and all year long we had players stepping in and playing.
Joe Mazzulla
The winners of the series will face the Cleveland Cavaliers or the Orlando Magic in the conference semifinals.
That series is tied 2-2 heading into Tuesday night’s game.
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
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