Doctor provides information on ‘rare’ injury to Porzingis’ leg originally appeared in NBC Sports Boston
Tuesday’s discouraging update on Kristaps Porzingis’ injury left Boston Celts fans scratching their heads.
The Celtics announced Porzingis suffered a “ruptured medial retinaculum, allowing dislocation of the posterior tibial tendon of his left leg” during Game 2 of the NBA Finals. In the statement, the team classified the injury as “rare” and highlighted that Porzingis’ availability for the next games will be determined “on a day-to-day basis”.
“Teared medial retinaculum allowing dislocation of posterior tibial tendon” is a mouthful, so orthopedist Dr. John Ponti of Southcoast Health joined Early Edition to explain Porzingis’ injury in simpler terms.
“It appears that Porzingis injured what’s called the medial retinaculum of the ankle. And essentially what this is is a very thick band-like structure that helps hold the ankle tendons in place and allows them to do their job,” he said. Dr. Ponti said. “So when Porzingis tore his ankle retinaculum, essentially what happened was one of those tendons can now come out of place and become dislocated.
“And so, that can be quite painful. And the function of that particular tendon is to be able to plantar flex your foot or come up on your toes. So for a 7-foot center, that can be very challenging, especially when try to jump.”
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla described Porzingis’ injury as “serious” on Tuesday. Porzingis had a more optimistic viewalthough he acknowledged that the decision to play Wednesday’s Game 3 and beyond is out of his hands.
Ponti shed some light on the possibility of Porzingis suiting up.
“It will certainly be a challenge for the medical team and for Porzingis to be able to return tomorrow night,” he added. “It certainly depends on the level of pain and how much function he was able to maintain despite the injury. So if the pain is tolerable and he’s able to show that he can jump and run, and it’s not hindering his ability to perform those tasks, there’s a chance he can play.”
If Porzingis is forced to sit out, veteran Al Horford will remain Boston’s starting center, as he has done since the Latvian big man missed time with a calf strain early in the playoffs. The good news is the C’s are 30-5 without Porzingis in the regular season and playoffs combined.
Porzingis provided a spark off the bench for the Celtics in his two Finals appearances at TD Garden, averaging 16.0 points and five rebounds in 21.9 minutes.
The Celtics currently have Porzingis listed as questionable for Game 3 against the Dallas Mavericks. Tip-off for the clash is set for 8:30 pm ET, with coverage beginning at 7 pm on NBC Sports Boston with Celtics pregame live.
