Can Kristaps Porzingis help the Boston Celtics celebrate Banner 18 in their own half on Monday night?
That's a key question heading into Game 5 of the 2024 NBA Finals against the Dallas Mavericks at TD Garden. The Celtics big man, who suffered a “rare” leg injury in the third quarter of Game 2 and missed Game 3 in Dallas, is available for Game 4 but only “if necessary,” head coach Joe Mazzulla said.
But that was never necessary, as the Celtics trailed the Mavs by 26 points at halftime and waved the white flag late in the third quarter to suffer a 122-84 defeat.
So what are the chances that Porzingis, who has been DNP'd for two straight games, will play in Game 5? According to The Athletic's Shams Charania, the Celtics are likely to take a similar approach, using the 7-foot-3 big man when needed.
“We have the same expectation for Game 5 as far as him being available,” Charania said. He spoke on FanDuel TV on Monday. Go back and execute show“Some of his teammates have been talking about how much he wants to play, but physically he's not at that level yet.”
“… The expectation with the Celtics is that, at the very least, he'll play a similar role to what he did in Game 4.”
Interestingly, Charania noted that Boston's plan for Game 4 was to only use Porzingis in very specific situations, such as inbounds defense, guarding lobs on set pieces just before the end of the quarter, taking free throw turns, etc. So even if Porzingis is active in Game 5, I don't see him playing 20 minutes and making a big impact on both ends of the floor.
“He was working through some stuff in practice, but it was clear he was still very uncomfortable,” Celtics big man Xavier Tillman Sr. said of Porzingis on Sunday. By John Zanis of CLNS Media“So we don't want to put him in a situation where it's really, really going to hurt him.”
The Celtics are one win away from winning the championship, but Porzingis' long-term health is something to consider. Boston won Game 3 without him and is 10-2 this postseason in games he has missed. He's certainly a game-changer both defensively and defensively when healthy, but he's clearly not at his best and will be limited, if at all, in Game 5.
Porzingis could get the TD Garden crowd excited if he plays in Game 5, so Mazzulla might use him briefly near the end of the quarter to make the most of Boston's home-court advantage. But outside of that scenario, the burden of holding down the frontcourt on Monday night will likely fall on veterans Al Horford and Tillman.
The match will kick off at 8:30pm ET. Celtics Pregame Live From 7pm
