The Celtics rolled into the second round of the NBA playoffs, as expected, but they might have to play that series without a key piece.
Kristaps Porzingis, who is dealing with a calf strain, missed the Celtics’ 118-84 series-ending Game 5 victory over the Heat and could now miss the team’s second-round series, according to TNT’s Chris Haynes.
On Tuesday, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported Porzingis was “expected to miss a minimum of several games.”
Porzingis, 28, hurt himself in Game 4, sustaining the non-contact injury in the second quarter, as he played just 14 minutes in Boston’s 102-88 win over the Heat.
Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla spoke to reporters before their series-clinching Game 5 victory, but did not have an update on what Porzingis’ timetable to return might be.
“We’re going to give it a week and see where he’s at and kind of see how he responds to the treatment over the next week,” Mazzulla said, according to the Boston Globe.
Without Porzingis, the coach said the team will need to rely more on its speed.
“Just got to use the speed to our advantage on both ends of the floor,” Mazzulla added. “That’s the most important thing. But, it starts with our defense. We’ve got to get stops. When we do that, we don’t have to play in the halfcourt and in the halfcourt we have to use our speed to create two-on-ones and pocket opportunities.”
In his first year in Boston, Porzingis, when on the court, was as good as advertised, averaging 20.1 points with 7.2 rebounds per game over 57 contests.
He averaged 12.3 points and five rebounds in the four games he played in during the first round against Miami.
Boston will play either the Cavaliers or Magic in the second round.