Kristaps Porzingis will miss Game 3 of the NBA Finals due to injury

Kristaps Porzingis will miss the Boston Celtics' Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday night due to an unusual tendon injury in his lower left leg sustained in the previous game. The Celtics announced roughly two hours before tipoff that Porzingis will be out of the game against the Dallas Mavericks, although coach Joe Mazzulla subsequently hinted that the center may be fit for Game 4.

As per AP News, “The medical team and the staff decided it wasn’t what was best for him,” Mazzulla said about Game 3. “It’ll just be a day-to-day thing, see how he is tomorrow and the next day. ... He didn’t look right. That was it. I was not involved in it. It was out of his hands.”

Kristaps Porzingis, 28, had missed 10 consecutive postseason games due to a right calf injury before returning for the start of the NBA Finals when he helped the Celtics establish a 2-0 series lead against his former club. He sparked the Celtics with 11 points and two blocks in the first quarter of their Game 1 victory, then added 12 points in the game in which he was injured. 

Porzingis said he felt something after brushing knees with Dallas center Dereck Lively II on Sunday night, but he continued to play. He departed the game in the last minute of the third quarter and played barely 3 1/2 minutes in the fourth.

Kristaps Porzingis stated that he was undergoing therapy

The 7-foot-2 Latvian has a tear in the tissue that keeps tendons in place. Boston Celtics stated that it was unconnected to the calf strain he suffered in Game 4 of the first round against Miami on April 29. After the team reported the injury on Tuesday, Porzingis stated that he was undergoing continual therapy and doing whatever the medical staff instructed him. He stated he would do everything to play, but admitted that he "can't trick them into allowing me to play."

Joe Mazzulla has already stated that the team was removing Porzingis from the decision-making process. With Porzingis out for Game 3, he has yet to play a game in Dallas since being traded by the Mavericks over two and a half years ago.