Kristaps Porzingis has been ruled out for Boston against Dallas in Game 3 of the NBA Finals.
The Celtics announced Wednesday that the Latvian power forward had suffered a “rare” injury to his left leg in Game 2 that left him “day-to-day” heading into Game 3 in Dallas.
The 28-year-old has helped the Celtics into a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series after returning from a month-long injury layoff.
However, Boston said Wednesday Porzingis had been diagnosed with a “torn medial retinaculum allowing dislocation of the posterior tibialis tendon in his left leg” in Game 2.
Although Porzingis was seen walking normally at practice on Wednesday, the Celtics said no risks would be taken with the player’s fitness and eventually ruled him out on Thursday.
“The medical team and the staff just decided that it wasn’t what was best for him (to play) today,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski later reported on ‘NBA Countdown’ that there is “real doubt” over Porzingis’ availability for the rest of the series too.
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It is a big loss for the Celtics and a big boost for the Mavericks, who host their first game of the NBA Finals, desperate for victory after dropping the opening two road games of the series.
Kyrie Irving is drawing from the experience of Cleveland’s 2016 NBA Finals comeback as he attempts to help dig the Mavericks out of the 0-2 hole.
For Irving, the situation is eerily familiar to his experience with the Cavaliers eight years ago, when Cleveland went 2-0 down to the dominant Golden State Warriors before rallying and eventually winning the series 4-3 with victory in game seven.
Irving, who famously shot the game-winning three-pointer in the series decider against the Warriors in 2016, sees parallels between his past and present.
“It took a lot of will to win in 2016,” Irving said.
“We had time to fail together. We had time to go through our trials together. We lost in 2015.
“A lot of guys came back in 2016 and we won. So there was an inner motivation there. We also knew who we were going against, how well they played.”
Instead of being daunted by the challenge posed by the top-seeded Celtics, Irving wants his teammates to view their situation as “an opportunity to respond.”
“That’s all you can ask for in a basketball season,” he said.
“If you asked me in September or October, would I want a chance to be down 0-2 and having a chance to respond in Game 3 or be out of the playoffs, I think I would choose the former. It’s as simple as that.
“We’re the only teams left. This is about chess. That’s all it is.”
If the Mavericks are to haul themselves off the canvas, Irving knows he will need a more productive game after misfiring so far.
In Games 1 and 2 against Boston, Irving scored a mere 28 points and was 13-of-37 from the floor, and 0-of-8 from three-point range.
“First thing is just accepting that I haven’t played well or up to my standards, as well as I would have liked,” Irving said.
Irving also believes that the scorelines from the first two games of the series don’t do Dallas justice.
“The margin of their victories hasn’t really displayed the full story in terms of the Celtics beating us,” Irving said.
“We just have to continue to lean in on each other, especially when it gets tough out there. We’re going against a great team.
“We know what we’re in for. But now we have to raise it to an even higher level, and it starts with me.”
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