As Kristaps Porzingis stayed warm on an exercise bike – located next to the tunnel and surrounded by the crowd – a group of fans called out to him. The Celtics big man, as he seemingly does every game, whether he’s playing or not, reciprocated his love with a wave and a smile.
Nothing has bothered Porzingis in his first season in Boston, even though he’s being held out of more games than he’d like and is being treated more cautiously than ever. Porzingis, who suffered several minor injuries this season, missed 21 games. And while he’d certainly like to play more, he’s getting there.
“(It’s) definitely more cautious here,” Porzingis said after returning from a five-game absence in the Celtics’ win over the Pistons on Monday. “I could have played more things, 100 percent. But I understand that there will be a time and place for me to play through things. Especially at this point in the season, we’re in a pretty good position, and we know what’s most important is the playoffs. And that’s what we need to be: healthy, fresh and ready to leave it all out there.
Porzingis hasn’t suffered a serious injury this season but has suffered minor knocks that have kept him sidelined. He missed four games in November with a calf injury, and at the time said the Celtics were being very cautious in thinking about a long season. The five games he narrowly missed due to a hamstring strain constitute his longest absence of the season, but it doesn’t seem too serious. He missed other games here and there to try to preserve it.
The Celtics have expertly handled Porzingis – who has a long injury history – knowing how vital he is to their championship hopes. It’s worth noting that he’s never had a deep playoff run, which makes it even more important for him to stay healthy and fresh in the meantime, especially as the Celtics maintain a huge lead in the ranking. It’s a safe bet that Porzingis will take several more nights off between now and the end of the regular season.
Porzingis said he recently injured his hamstring after the Nuggets’ loss at Denver two weeks ago. He didn’t think about it at first – thinking it was just a tight feeling – but as he was warming up the morning of their next match in Phoenix, he felt something and alerted the medical staff.
“And of course, they were very careful,” Porzingis said. “So we did some footage and you could see something, but it was mostly out of caution, to be honest. If it was life or death or there was a playoff, everything would be fine. And we took a lot of time and started working on everything, but especially my hamstring. I feel good now and it was just a lot of caution I would say.
Porzingis returned Monday on a minutes restriction but had an unusual night. He played the first six minutes, then didn’t play the rest of the half. He stayed warm on the exercise bike at the end of the first half, then returned to play 15 straight minutes to start the second half. He said Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla wanted to leave minutes available in the second half in case the game was close.
The Celtics will remain extremely cautious with Porzingis for the next month, as they have all season. Porzingis said he hopes the minutes restriction doesn’t continue, but soon, when the playoffs begin, he will be rewarded for his patience.
“I want to be out there learning more,” Porzingis said. “But I understand the most important thing is to come into the playoffs as fresh and strong as possible.”
A friendly bet
Payton Pritchard’s 3-point basket that earned Derrick White his 10th assist to post his first triple-double in Monday’s win was also a favor. Pritchard and White bet on Saturday’s Pac-12 championship game between Oregon and Colorado, and Pritchard’s Ducks beat White’s Buffaloes to earn the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. So Pritchard’s 3-pointer helped ease some of White’s pain.
“It’s the least he could do for me,” White joked.
White wasn’t sweating the loss of his alma mater. Colorado earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament by being selected as the No. 10 seed in Wednesday’s qualifying game against Boise State. Oregon is the No. 11 seed and will face No. 6 seed South Carolina on Thursday.
“A few dollars were exchanged,” White said of the bet. “I was extremely confident before this match. It was a good game, thanks to Oregon, obviously, but like I said, we’re both in the tournament and I think we’re going to be successful here, so let’s go, Buffs.
Injury report
Jaylen Brown (sprained right ankle), Jrue Holiday (sprained right AC joint) and Sam Hauser (sprained left ankle) are all questionable for Wednesday’s game against the Bucks. It’s a positive sign for Hauser – who injured his ankle on his historic shot in Sunday’s win over the Wizards – that his status has improved and it appears he has avoided injury severe.
