While the Celtics cruised to the victory over the Wizards on the road, they picked up a new concern Sunday. Kristaps Porzingis left in the first half due to right heel pain as he didn’t return to the game afterwards.
That’s a new injury as he wasn’t on the injury report going into Sunday’s game. Notably, he needed offseason surgery for his rare left foot injury, so the right heel pain is a different issue. The severity of the injury is still unclear, though C’s coach Joe Mazzulla said postgame he was in “good spirits.” Porzingis himself also didn’t sound too worried about the injury as of now.
“I banged up my heel a little bit,” Porzingis told reporters, via NBC Sports Boston. “I kept on playing. It was nothing major, honestly. More like a precautionary thing. It was pretty sensitive. I told the medical staff and they just pulled me out of the game. I don’t think it’s anything major.”
Considering the Celtics were never threatened by the Wizards, it sounds like the team kept Porzingis out of the game for precautionary purposes. Porzingis finished with 11 points in 11 minutes Sunday, making way for a big Luke Kornet game as the reserve played well with those extra opportunities.
Porzingis said the injury happened during the game, so it was something new that popped up Sunday. That’s also relatively a positive considering it wasn’t a lingering injury from ahead of time. Porzingis also gets three days of rest as the Celtics don’t play again until Thursday at home against the Bulls.
The C’s will be cautious with Porzingis considering he’s been injury prone throughout his career. He came back to the court earlier than expected when he returned last month from surgery rehab. While Porzingis is ramping back up to game speed, the team is going to ensure he’s healthy for the rest of the season and beyond instead of being aggressive with any injury.
“I think I should be fine for next game,” Porzingis said. “We will see. We have three, four days off, so we’ll see.”
