Kristaps Porzingis is sitting out for the fourth consecutive Celtics game on Thursday night against the Philadelphia 76ers due to a non-COVID illness. The big man originally played through the illness last week in Detroit after missing one game but sat out since then with Boston going 2-1 in his absence.
With Porzingis having missed five of the last six Celtics games overall, Joe Mazzulla gave an update on the center before Thursday’s game.
“He’s sick,” Mazzulla explained. “He’s coming into the facility every day trying to get shots up, sweat it out. He’s just not feeling well. He is working to get back.”
Porzingis took part in Celtics practice on Tuesday but the team is clearly taking a cautious approach with the 7-foot-2 center amid a busy stretch of the season. Boston began a seven games in 11 days stretch on Wednesday against the Blazers.
Porzingis had his best stretch of health as a Celtic before this latest illness in 2025, only missing three games (all back-to-backs) since returning from an ankle injury on January 3. Porzingis has played some of the best basketball of his career during this year despite offseason leg surgery, posting a career-high 40.3 shooting from 3-point range.
Porzingis is one of five Celtics players getting the night off against a reeling Sixers squad that has lost 11 of their past 12 games. Given Porzingis’ durability issues during his career, a well timed midseason rest is probably a useful thing for him and Boston anyway amid the team’s desire to play deep into June.
The next update on Porzingis’ status will come on Friday ahead of Boston’s showdown with the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday night at TD Garden.
