After a “rare” injury kept him out of two games in the NBA Finals, Kristaps Porzingis will undergo surgery.
Porzingis returned to the court on Monday night to help the Boston Celtics beat the Dallas Mavericks 106-88 in Game 5 of the NBA Finals, which gave them their first championship since 2008 and the franchise’s 18th overall. after the victory that he will undergo surgery in the near future and will spend “a few months” in recovery. That should leave plenty of time for Porzingis to be ready for the start of next season.
Porzingis suffered a posterior tibial dislocation in his left leg after an injury Awkward collision with Mavericks center Dereck Lively while they were boxing out during a free throw in Game 2 of the series.
Porzingis struggled to limp on the court following the collision and was removed from the game early. The team described the injury, which kept him out of the previous two rounds of the playoffs, as “rare.”
Porzingis returned Monday night and came off the bench in the 18-point win at TD Garden. He had five points and a rebound in 16 minutes.
“I think something could have happened, for sure, especially making up for it now on the other hand, which I just came back from,” Porzingis said after the win, when asked by ESPN if he was worried about re-injuring his leg in the game. There was definitely some additional risk, but I didn’t care and thought, ‘I want to give it everything I can and fix it later if I need to.’”
Now, Porzingis can do just that.
Porzingis averaged 20.1 points and 7.2 rebounds per game this season with the Celtics, who acquired Porzingis in a three-way deal with the Washington Wizards last summer. The 28-year-old will enter the first year of a two-year, $60 million contract with the franchise this fall.
While his summer and impending celebration following the championship win may be dampened a bit with the upcoming surgery, Porzingis isn’t bothered by it at all. After all, he has his ring.
“I don’t care,” Porzingis said. “I’m going to fix this. That’s the most important thing, and after my injury heals and everything, it’s totally worth it.”
