If the Boston Celtics want to close out the Miami Heat on Wednesday, they will have to do it without Kristaps Porzingis.
The Celtics’ starting center has been ruled out for Game 5 due to a right soleus strain, according to TNT’s Chris Haynes. The soleus is a calf muscle.
The game is scheduled for 7:30 pm ET on Wednesday in Boston (TNT). The Celtics currently lead 3-1.
Porzingis suffered the injury in Game 4 on Wednesday, leaving in the second quarter and never returning in a 102-88 victory. After making a move on the perimeter, Porzingis stopped limping and immediately signaled to be removed from the game.
This was preceded by another play in which Porzingis appeared to twist his leg and began limping.
The good news for the Celtics is that it appears Porzingis did not suffer an Achilles injury, which some feared after he left the Heat’s Kaseya Center in a walking boot. He underwent imaging tests on Tuesday and it remains unclear how much time he will have to miss after Game 5.
The Celtics can rest easy with a win on Wednesday. The owners of the NBA’s best regular-season record looked dominant in their first-round series against a Jimmy Butler-less Miami team, outside of Game 2 in which the Heat made a franchise-record 23 3-pointers.
Porzingis, often sparring with Heat All-Star center Bam Adebayo, had been having a series of ups and downs before the injury. He scored 18 points on a combined 12-of-21 shooting in the Celtics’ victories in Games 1 and 3, but shot 1-of-9 for six points in Game 2.
The Celtics acquired Porzingis in a trade with the Washington Wizards last offseason and had one of the best seasons of his career during the regular season. He was a central part of what got the Celtics to No. 1 overall, and they can only hope he’s ready for the next series as long as they take care of business against the Heat this week.
