Kristaps Porzingis has missed the last two NBA Finals games for the Boston Celtics, and the warning signs are there for him to potentially miss even more time.
Celtics big man Xavier Tillman, who has entered the rotation ever since Porzingis was hurt, addressed reporters on Sunday, one day before Game 5 of the Finals against the Dallas Mavericks on Monday. During the session, Tillman was asked if he believed that Porzingis would play again this series. While Tillman did preface his answer by saying, “We’ll see,” he then offered some ominous comments about Porzingis.
“If he’s in excruciating pain where he can’t be his best, it may not be worth it for him to play,” said Tillman, per Noa Dalzell of SB Nation. “When we go through our practices and stuff like that, he’s doing some stuff but you can still tell he’s very uncomfortable. So like I said, we don’t want to put him in any type of situation that could really hurt him, you know?”
When then asked if there had been any sort of improvement with Porzingis, Tillman responded that “it’s been pretty much the same.”
The former All-Star Porzingis did practice a bit with the team on Sunday but only appeared to do very light work. He also did not speak to the media, and no new update was given on Porzingis by the Celtics.
Smiles for Kristaps Porzingis. He’s getting some shots up in practice but not moving around much. pic.twitter.com/fvwv2FmF2W
— Zack Cox (@zm_cox) June 16, 2024
Porzingis is dealing with a very rare left leg injury that he suffered in Game 2 of the Finals. He missed Game 3 entirely and was active for Game 4, but in name only as Porzingis did not actually see the floor.
At 7-foot-3 with a lengthy injury history, the odds are against Porzingis to return this series, especially since he will be entering a contract year next season and needs to be wise about his long-term health. There is always a possibility that he could be back in the Finals, but these comments from Tillman, who has given the Celtics decent bench minutes in the last two games without Porzingis, do not sound too encouraging.
