DALLAS (AP) — Kristaps Porzingis will not play in Game 3 of the NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night after suffering a rare tendon injury in his lower left leg in the last game.
The Celtics announced about two hours before kickoff that Porzingis would miss their game against the Dallas Mavericks.
The 28-year-old Porzingis had missed 10 straight playoff games with a strained right calf, but returned in the opening game of the NBA Finals to help the Celtics take a 2-0 series lead against his former team. He gave the Celtics a boost with 11 points and two blocks in the first quarter of the Game 1 win, then scored 12 points in the game after the injury.
Porzingis said he felt something after bumping knees with Dallas center Derek Lively II on Sunday night but continued to play. He left the game in the final minute of the third quarter and played just 3 1/2 minutes in the fourth quarter.
The 7-foot-2 Latvian center suffered a tear in the tissue that holds a tendon in place. The Celtics said the injury was unrelated to the calf strain he suffered in Game 4 of their first-round game against Miami on April 29.
After the team announced the injury on Tuesday, Porzingis said he was receiving ongoing treatment and following the guidance of the medical staff. He plans to do everything he can to play, but acknowledged he “can't trick them to clear me to play.”
Coach Joe Mazzulla insisted at the time that the team wasn't leaving that decision up to Porzingis.
Porzingis will sit out Game 3 and has yet to play in a game for Dallas since being traded from the Mavericks nearly two and a half years ago.
Porzingis, 28, was the fourth overall pick by the New York Knicks in 2015 and was an All-Star before missing the entire 2018-19 season with a torn ACL. The Knicks traded him to Dallas in January 2019 in a deal that included seven players and two first-round draft picks. Dallas traded Porzingis to Washington on Feb. 10, 2022, and the Wizards sent him to Boston in a three-team trade last summer.
Porzingis had played in 12 of the Wizards' previous 13 games at Dallas in January 2023 but hadn't played since then, nor did he play in a visit to the Celtics at American Airlines Center in January this year, the night after he recorded 32 points, six rebounds and five blocked shots in Houston.
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