The Celtics may be without Kristaps Porzingis for Game 3 against the Dallas Mavericks, as the team has listed him day-to-day with a leg injury.
According to a press release, Porzinigis suffered a torn medial retinaculum allowing dislocation of the posterior tibialis tendon in his left leg. The seven-footer sustained the injury at the 3:27 mark in the third quarter of the C's 105-98 victory in Game 2.
In speaking with the media postgame, coach Joe Mazzulla said he had "zero" concerns moving forward when asked about Porzingis' health and the even the veteran big man answered questions about his calf and whatever he may have tweaked Sunday night.
"I feel good," Porzingis said in his postgame presser. "Obviously, something happened a little bit. But have a couple days again. Believe me, we'll do everything we can to be back and moving well. I'll die out there if we need. Just kept going. Obviously I was a little bit limited, so the smart thing was to get Al [Horford] back in there and close out the game."
While this latest injury is not related to Porzingis' previous soleus strain, which was in his right calf, it's still considered a rare injury.
Following Tuesday's shootatound, Mazzulla admitted the team was unsure if Porzingis would be cleared in time for Game 3 Wednesday due to the nature of the injury being more serious than originally thought.
"He's doing anything and everything he can to be ready for the game tomorrow," Mazzulla said in his post-practice presser. "It's a serious injury and at the end of the day, our medical team is not going to put him in any bad situations. We've taken the decision to play out of his hands because of the importance of him. He's going to do everything he can to play and we're going to leave it up to our medical team."
Porzingis on the other hand, who was seen wearing a sleeve on his left ankle and walking around without any sort of limping, had a more positive take on his status for Game 3.
It's going to be day-to-day and see how I am tomorrow," Porzingis told reporters. "And obviously, I'm going to do everything I can to be out there tomorrow and we'll see. … I'm optimistic. As I said, I will do everything I can to be out there tomorrow."
ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski also gave Celtics fans hope by providing some more optimism on the part of the team not shutting Porzingis down just yet, while taking the wait-and-see approach.
"As Boston's Kristaps Porzingis told reporters, he's determined and expects to continue to try and play with this tendon injury in the Finals," Wojnarowski posted. "For now, there's no indication he'll be ruled out and not permitted to try in Game 3, sources said."
Porzinigis missed 10 straight games with a right calf strain, but made his return in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, scoring 20 points off the bench in Boston's 107-89 victory. He also played on the second unit in Game 2 to net 12 points in 12 minutes, before not checking back in after sustaining his latest injury.
The Celtics and Mavericks tip-off in Game 3 Wednesday night in Dallas at 8:30 pm ET on ABC.
Joel Pavón
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