The Boston Celtics took the decision to play out of Kristaps Porzingis’ hands and handed it off to the medical team, leaving his status for Game 5 uncertain on Monday.
In Game 4, Porzingis was made available “only to be used in special instances, if necessary” as Joe Mazzulla shared during his pregame press conference, but Porzingis never left the bench and it’s unsure if Mazzulla would’ve even used him.
Porzingis didn’t participate in the team’s layup line and shootaround during pregame, staying in the locker room until after the third quarter as he likely knew he was never going to play.
It’s worth noting that Porzingis was stretching in the tunnel after the team went to the court in what looked like he was trying to get on the floor himself but he never did. It could’ve been this moment when he knew he wasn’t going to be able to play.
On the Bob Ryan and Jeff Goodman Podcast, basketball analyst Jeff Goodman explained he isn’t optimistic that Porzingis will be able play in Game 5 on Monday.
“I just think this is a guy who knows he could be done for the series. This is a guy that’s had so many injuries in his career, and, you know, agents are involved now, you’re looking at your future, I get it- it’s the NBA Finals… you really have confidence in Kristaps Porzingis?”
The idea that Porzingis should be available for only a few minutes just to say that he was on the court for Boston to win the championship is wild logic for me to understand.
The Celtics worked all season to keep Porzingis healthy and available for the playoffs and the Finals, but it still didn’t work out in the end for either side.
Porzingis’ status is still unknown for Monday’s Game 5 in Boston and it will be the decision of the medical team if he has the green light to play or not.
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