The Boston Celtics will be without Kristaps Porzingis for the remainder of their Game 4 matchup with the Miami Heat, which is currently in the second half with Boston in control looking to take a 3-1 series lead.
Porzingis exited late in the second quarter with right calf tightness, the Celtics announced. He appeared to roll his opposite ankle a few possessions and was noticeably limping before pulling up lame with the calf injury. In a positive bit of news, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Porzingis will undergo imaging on Tuesday, but as it stands, it does not appear that he’s suffered an Achilles injury.
In the moment, it didn’t look great. It was non-contact, and Porzingis had his head buried in his jersey as he limped to the locker room. It’s a big-picture situation for Boston, which pretty well has this Miami series in hand barring a catastrophic meltdown.
We’ll wait to see what, exactly, Porzingis is dealing with, but if it’s concerning at all, you have to wonder if the Celtics would consider sitting him for the presumed second-round series against either Cleveland or Orlando.
Neither of those teams should be able to threaten Boston even without Porzingis, who becomes a major necessity starting in the conference finals, where as it looks right now Boston could be facing the Knicks, and then certainly Porzingis would be needed in the Finals should Boston make it that far. Prioritizing Porzingis’ long-term postseason outlook will likely be the play for Boston no matter how this diagnosis comes back.
