The Boston Celtics made a gamble in the offseason when they decided to ship out Marcus Smart in a three-team trade that landed them Kristaps Porzingis.
The Celtics felt the need to shake the roster up after losing in seven games to the Miami Heat in the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals, and acquiring Porzingis meant they would be shifting the identity of the team.
Porzingis looked healthy in the 2022-23 NBA season and it resulted in one of the best years of his career as he was a borderline All-Star.
So far, the Latvian big man has fit like a glove in Boston as he’s provided them some extra scoring punch and a legitimate rim protector.
However, Porzingis has also been injury-prone in his career and he suffered some calf tightness in their recent game against the Orlando Magic.
Porzingis seems to have avoided major injury and he posted on his personal Instagram story that he was already working his way back to the court via Chris Forsberg of NBC.
Porzingis on IG … pic.twitter.com/3f8FaFd11c
— Chris Forsberg (@ChrisForsberg_) November 25, 2023
Porzingis wrote “good news this morning. be back very soon” on the post which signals that the medical staff didn’t find anything serious with his calf.
This is obviously a sigh of relief for the Celtics who need Porzingis given the center depth on the roster.
Without Porzingis, Boston went on to lose to Orlando though in the grand scheme of things the former All-Star’s health is the bigger priority.
For now, it remains to be seen how much time Porzingis will be forced to miss but it sounds like he’ll be able to return sooner rather than later.
