Kristaps Porzingis is dealing with yet another injury after missing most of the NBA playoffs with a calf strain. The Boston Celtics announced Tuesday that Porzingis is day-to-day with a left leg injury ahead of Game 3 of the NBA Finals.
"Porzingis suffered a torn medial retinaculum allowing dislocation of the posterior tibialis tendon in his left leg at 3:27 of the third quarter of Game 2," the Celtics said in a statement to the media, adding that the injury is not related to the calf injury that forced him to miss 10 playoff games.
Porzingis was asked about the injury during media availability and said he was optimistic about playing in Game 3. "I will do everything I can to be out there tomorrow," Porzingis told reporters Tuesday.
When asked if he could do more damage by playing or if it was more about pain management, Porzingis deferred to team doctors. "That's something I'll leave in the medical staff's hands to determine whether I can go or no. Nothing's going to stop me unless I'm told I'm not allowed to play."
Kristaps Porzingis said he will do everything he can to play in Game 3 pic.twitter.com/hWjJ7394fv
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) June 11, 2024
Porzingis played an additional 6:21 after suffering the injury in Game 2 and was seen on the sideline with his shoes off using a resistance band late in the game. He came off the bench in the first two games of the NBA Finals and played just 44 minutes combined, but is tied for second on the Celtics in plus/minus at +25 with Jayson Tatum.
His impact in Game 1 was so important to the Celtics that he moved from +5000 to win NBA Finals MVP to +550 at FanDuel. At the time of this writing, Porzingis' odds to win Finals MVP are off the board.
The Celtics are still huge favorites to win the series. The C's are -820 to win the series outright at FanDuel with the Mavericks listed as +570 underdogs. The series spread is Celtics -2.5 (-134) and Mavericks +2.5 (+100).
The Mavericks, however, are home favorites entering Game 3 and the line has moved toward Dallas since the injury news came down. The Mavericks opened as 1.5-point favorites on Sunday night and briefly moved up to 2-point favorites before settling back at the opening number. Once news broke that Porzingis would be listed as day-to-day for the rest of the series, the Game 3 line moved to Mavericks -2.5.
