So what happened to Kristaps Porzingis during his Boston Celtics' 118-114 home loss to the lowly Philadelphia 76ers on Christmas Day?
The veteran big man, 29, departed the clash in the first half, and was quickly ruled out for the rest of the night with an ankle injury. In just 13:14 of action, Porzingis finished the game with nine points on 3-of-8 shooting from the floor (3-of-6 from long range), passed for three assists, and grabbed two rebounds. Boston replaced him in the second half with former five-time All-Star big man Al Horford, who had been shifted to a starting power forward role next to Porzingis with All-Defensive Second Team guard Jrue Holiday on the shelf.
The Celtics have revealed, via their official X account, that the 7-foot-3 former All-Star center has officially incurred a sprained left ankle, and is considered merely questionable to suit up against the 15-15 Indiana Pacers on Friday night.
Considering the big man's mid-game departure, the fact that he is day-to-day feels like a best case scenario. He missed the club's first 17 games while recuperating from offseason surgery, and has already sat out for two games since with various other issues. In 11 healthy games this year, Porzingis is averaging 18.3 points on .453/.328/.849 shooting splits, 6.4 boards, 1.6 dimes, 1.5 blocks and 0.7 steals per bout. Horford wrapped up the bout with 17 points while shooting 6-of-13 from the field (5-of-10 from deep), four rebounds, two assists and one block. Luke Kornet, picking up more run with Porzingis out in the second half, chipped in six points on 3-of-4 shooting from the field, 10 rebounds, two assists and two rejections a night.
All-Star Philadelphia point guard Tyrese Maxey led the way for the opposition with 33 points, while 2023 MVP center Joel Embiid scored 27 and forward Caleb Martin contributed 23.
Boston also revealed that Holiday, who's been dealing with a right shoulder impingement, has been upgraded to questionable to suit up against the Pacers.
Boston and Indiana are heading in opposite directions at present. The reigning champion Celtics have lost two straight games for the first time all season (and have gone 3-4 in their last seven bouts), while the Pacers are on a five-game winning streak. At 22-8, Boston is still the Eastern Conference's No. 2 seed, four games behind the 26-4 Cleveland Cavaliers, while the Pacers are currently the eighth seed.
