The Boston Celtics are well on track to defeat the Miami Heat and book a spot in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. However, despite being expected to sweep the Jimmy Butler-less squad, a Game 2 loss did hurt Jayson Tatum and co. While the team has recovered since there has apparently been more bad news lately, as Kristaps Porzingis went to the locker room in the dying seconds of the first half in Game 4.
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Unlike the Miami Heat, who have a long list of players on the injury report, the Boston Celtics have only added one player to the report – Porzingis. And unfortunately, Joe Mazzulla’s boys will have to play Game 5 without the Latvian on the team lineup, per the NBA’s official injury report.
#NEBHInjuryReport for tomorrow vs. Miami:
Kristaps Porzingis (right soleus strain) – OUT
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) April 30, 2024
The 7ft 3” unicorn has had a fairly healthy season, even playing the majority of games since April. However, during Game 4, Porzingis was escorted to the team locker room after he seemed to have sustained a non-contact injury to his calf.
This looks like a right “calf strain” for Kristaps Porziņģis
You can also see he has tape on the left calf so probably was dealing with some sort of tightness/soreness prior on that side
MRI will determine severity and healing time
Grade I: 1-2 weeks
Grade II: 3-6 weeks pic.twitter.com/8NvIzNJCAQ— Dr. Evan Jeffries, DPT (@GameInjuryDoc) April 30, 2024
Despite the unicorn being out for the remainder of the encounter, Jayson Tatum and co. did a great job in distributing the offensive load. Following the contest, the Boston Celtics head coach also complimented his boys for stepping up in the absence of their starting center.
“I thought everybody just stepped it up,” Mazzulla said.
At first, the Cs released a statement claiming that the sharpshooting big man had suffered nothing more than right calf stiffness. However, not many fans were convinced about the update given by the team. A sports doctor then claimed that the issue could be much more serious than it appeared. As Brian Sutterer rightly predicted, Porzingis did in fact suffer a horrific soleus strain, as reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Celtics C Kristaps Porzingis is expected to miss a minimum of several games with the right soleus strain, sources tell ESPN. https://t.co/9qW4iR04jO
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 30, 2024
While a soleus strain isn’t as bad an injury as rupturing the Achilles tendon, the recovery time could be anywhere between a few days to more than a month depending upon the severity of the case. However, without Kristaps Porzingis, the #1 team in the East should have no problem in getting past the severely shorthanded South Florida side tonight.
