Kristaps Porzingis struggled through illness in the Celtics’ 91-90 loss to the Knicks, limited to just 14 minutes off the bench two nights after he exited in the second quarter of Game 1.
“I’m just not feeling my best — not feeling my best at all,” Porzingis said after the Game 2 loss. “It just kills me inside it’s happening in this moment.”
Joe Mazzulla shared at practice on Tuesday that Porzingis has been dealing with linger symptoms from an illness that kept him out of 11 games in late February and early March.
“Since he came back, he’s kind of been dealing with it — working through it, fighting through it, doing the best he can,” Mazzulla said. “And I think it was just too much for him in that game. He had been working through it since he’s gotten back, and he’s done a great job of being available. It was just hard for him to continue yesterday.”
And, while Porzingis was ultimately able to go on Wednesday, his minutes and impact were both severely limited.
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“What I’m super appreciative about is the support that I have inside — also probably from the fans — but especially here, inside the organization, and having this tough moment for me to not be able to be with the guys,” Porzingis said. “It’s not no injury or nothing, but just not feeling my best. It’s tough for me, honestly, but who cares? Nobody feels sorry for us, sorry for me, and we have to keep going.”
Porzingis said what he was currently experiencing was “probably” connected to the upper respiratory illness he dealt with in late February.
“I’ve had ups and downs throughout until this point,” Porzingis said. “Just had a big crash. Now, my energy, everything hasn’t been good. But, who cares? I have to look forward. It will get better from this point on.”
Porzingis scored 8 points on 3-5 shooting and grabbed 4 rebounds. It was just the fifth time in his career that he came off the bench.
