MIAMI — The trade was a no-brainer in so many ways, but it was not without risk. Marcus Smart almost always got through the playoffs banged up, but he usually made it all the way. You knew he’d be there at the end, no matter how long the Boston Celtics’ run lasted.
When the Celtics had the opportunity to move Smart in a three-team deal for Kristaps Porziņģis and receive a first-round pick, it was too good to pass up. There was rarely a moment this season that called the decision into doubt. Porziņģis elevated the Celtics on both ends of the floor, was a great fit in the locker room, and avoided major injury.
Then late in the first half of Game 4 against the Miami Heat, with the Celtics in full control, Porziņģis subtly grabbed his right leg after a contest. Then a few moments later, he went for a rebound, stepped on Tyler Herro’s heel, and rolled his left ankle. He limped for a play, but appeared all right.
Until this happened.
Kristaps Porzingis heads to the locker room after suffering a non-contact injury pic.twitter.com/3n3UNJr8q7
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) April 30, 2024
Porziņģis’ reaction was immediate. As soon as he pulled up lame, he began his long, slow march to the locker room.
“I hope it’s not too serious,” Jayson Tatum said after the Celtics 102-88 Game 4 win to take a 3-1 series lead. “I hope that he can recover as fast as possible in the safest manner and I just hope that he’s OK.”
The team announced Porziņģis was doubtful to return with a right calf strain. Since that type of injury can be a warning sign of a torn Achilles, the fact that Porziņģis was not completely ruled out, helped ease some of the concern.
Porziņģis missed eight games with a right hamstring injury earlier this season, so now the Celtics are waiting to find out how long they could be without him, if he ends up missing time.
“Worried, just concerned,” teammate Al Horford said. “Any time that any of your guys go back there, especially him, the way that he was walking, is definitely concerning for me.”
When the Celtics returned to the locker room after the game, they found Porziņģis in a walking boot. Horford said Porziņģis was in good spirits, “But we don’t know what it’s gonna be.” Through all of the small knocks Porziņģis picked up this season, it was a jarring sight for the Celtics’ center to be in a boot, even if it ends up being precautionary.
“I wish the best for him. You hate to see that happen. He works so hard, one of the best players in this game,” Derrick White said after scoring a career-high 38 points. “So I told him we got his back and he’s gonna do what he needs to do to get treatment and to do what he needs to do to get back with us.”
good W tonight. DWhite is special!!
Thanks for all the support, will be good 💪
— Kristaps Porzingis (@kporzee) April 30, 2024
Calamity nearly struck the Celtics in the fourth quarter as the Heat were mounting a late comeback. At the 5:04 mark, Tatum took a practice shot following a whistle and Bam Adebayo went to contest him despite the dead ball. Tatum landed on Adebayo’s foot and rolled his left ankle, immediately falling to the ground.
Jayson Tatum tweaks his ankle after Bam Adebayo contests the shot after the whistle
Bam receives a Flagrant 1 & Tatum remains in the game pic.twitter.com/BTrSDVSMiE
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) April 30, 2024
Tatum was able to return to his feet and finish out the game, with the resulting flagrant foul giving the Celtics a chance to stymie Miami’s sudden run. As Tatum was on the ground, he said he thought back to Game 7 last year, when he landed on Gabe Vincent and sprained the same ankle. With Tatum hobbled, the Heat ended up winning that game and the series.
“I was mad, just because it’s the same ankle,” Tatum said. “But I’ve tweaked my ankle 1,000 times playing this game. So it was throbbing but the adrenaline made it wear off I guess and I just kept playing.”
Tatum explained how his right ankle has been through a lot over the years. It wasn’t just Game 7 last season. He said he hurt it when he stepped on Brandin Podziemski’s foot when the Celtics lost to the Golden State Warriors back in December. A few days later, he tweaked it again landing on LA Clippers player Kobe Brown’s foot taking a 3.
That ankle has taken so much abuse that it was no surprise to see Tatum expecting the worst when he hit the floor in Game 4.
“It didn’t feel good at first but yeah, it was just that and I don’t want to make it a bigger deal than what it is,” Tatum said. “Little play, I wasn’t tripping, moved on, kept playing, worried about the rest of the game.”
It was a bigger deal to Horford.
“I know that we get to playing around and trying to contest shots after fouls and things like that, but there’s levels to contest,” Horford said. “And if a guy is shooting and the play is over with, just kind of let him be. I know he’s trying to compete over there, but I was just mad. I don’t want to see any of my guys get hurt or anything like that. Thankfully, JT is fine, but it could have been bad.”
The series returns to Boston for Game 5 on Wednesday. Tatum was able to finish the game and didn’t appear to sport a limp after icing his ankle in the locker room. Porziņģis will undergo imaging Tuesday, but appears to have avoided an Achilles injury, as first reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
With the Cleveland Cavaliers–Orlando Magic series heading to at least six games, Porziņģis will have at least a week to rest if Boston can close out the Heat to advance to the second round.
That would potentially be Porziņģis’ first game beyond the first round in his career.
During the regular season, Porziņģis missed 20 combined games for a lower back contusion, right hamstring strain, left quad contusion, right knee inflammation, left knee contusion, left calf strain and left ankle sprain. Six of those games were for rest on a back-to-back.
So with Porziņģis gone for the night, adapting to the scenario was fairly seamless.
“That was the whole key throughout the season is developing different ways to play on both ends of the floor,” Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla said. “So I thought the guys adjusted well to doing that, and I think that’s something we try to focus on; is regardless who’s out there we have different identities and the guys were able to execute that well in the second half.”
This is why Boston traded a pair of second-round picks for Xavier Tillman at the trade deadline. In addition to providing versatility in the big man rotation, the Celtics just needed to make sure they had enough bigs with playoff experience to survive a Porziņģis and/or Horford injury.
The regular season also gave the Celtics 20 games to figure out how to play without Porziņģis.
“The whole season has kind of been that way. Whether it’s for different reasons, KP wasn’t always playing all the time,” Horford said. “So, Luke (Kornet), Xavier (Tillman), Neemie (Queta), have to kind of be ready to step up and answer the call. They’ve been doing a good job of that all year. Obviously, it’s the playoffs now, it’s different, but I have confidence in those guys if they need to come in and bring energy and impact the game.”
The 37-year-old Horford might have to hold down the fort for some time, which will be a challenge with two of the biggest teams in the league fighting for a chance to face Boston in the next round.
Orlando and Cleveland have bigs who can dominate the paint on both ends, so the Celtics might have to reshape the way they play once again. But talent has rarely been the concern for Boston this season. It’s been more about mindset. If their talent takes a hit and Porziņģis has to miss time, all those days fighting for perspective, as Mazzulla likes to put it, will help prepare them for the next step on their playoff run.
“In the playoffs, there’s moments, there’s highs, there’s lows,” Horford said. “Ultimately, I just think you have to stay the course and look ahead and just kind of figure it out and move on.”
(Photo: Megan Briggs / Getty Images)
