Against the odds, the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics pulled out a victory in Game Five of their Eastern Conference semi-finals series against the New York Knicks last night. They blew the game open in the second half on their way to a 127-102 triumph that keeps open the slim possibility of being only the 14th team in the 80-year history of the NBA to come back from a 3-1 series deficit.
The odds are so stacked against them, of course, because of the injury to Jayson Tatum. The Celtics lost their superstar wingman in the final minutes of Game Four to what was quickly confirmed to be a torn Achilles tendon, and with him, so went most of the hope of defending their title. If they were to be a man short, he was the last one they would have sacrificed.
Functionally, though, the Celtics are essentially two men down. Up front, Kristaps Porzingis moved into the starting line-up in Tatum’s place and was able to play 12 minutes. But due to the lingering affects of illness, he was largely a non-factor. And seemingly, he is in worse shape than first thought.
Porzingis’s Struggles With Mystery Illness
In his 12 minutes, Porzingis posted a -12 net rating. And in a 25-point victory for his team, that is hard to do. It nevertheless speaks to how ineffective he was on the interior – Porzingis scored 1 point, grabbed 1 rebound and blocked 1 shot, shooting a mere 0-3 from the field and committing two turnovers.
If he is not at the races in this series, it is not for a lack of trying. Porzingis has been labouring with illness all season, playing only 42 regular season games and being in and out of the line-up due to what he described as “lingering fatigue”. He has appeared in every game of the Knicks series, but was completely out of sorts over the first two games and almost scratched for Game Three. The big Latvian’s 4.2 points per game average in the series is a far cry from the 19.5 scoring average he posted in the regular season.
Asked about the welfare of his starting centre after the game, Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla was candid. In his assessment, Mazzulla stated that Porzingis “couldn’t breathe”, and that he was only available “if absolutely necessary”.
