Celtics Anxiously Awaiting Return Of Kristaps Porzingis From Injury

Kristaps Porzingis is nearing his long-awaited return to debuting this season and the Boston Celtics are ready to welcome back their 7-footer with open arms.

Porzingis went from hobbling on a walking boot during the first round of the playoffs to returning for the NBA Finals to undergoing offseason surgery to repair a rare ankle injury. It’s been a chaotic past few months for the 29-year-old who’s been engaging in basketball activities ever since the defending champs convened for training camp in September, and has continued to progress each day ever since.

“He’s getting there,” Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla said at Friday’s practice, per CLNS Media. “He’s been able to do some stuff on the court. Some reads versus the coaches. Still, some up and down work, 5-on-0 versus the coaches so he’s getting there.”

Injuries have plagued Porzingis for the past few seasons, most recently limiting him to 57 games last season. This wasn’t a problem for the Celtics, who without Porzingis, went 21-4 — extending that record to now-31-7 this season. Porzingis, throughout it all, has been all smiles and continues to stay the course while the Celtics hold the fort down.

It’s not easy to remain sidelined, especially on nights when Boston desperately needs Porzingis back in the frontcourt. But Porzingis hasn’t just spectated the team’s 10 wins and three losses in street clothes, quietly. During their most recent victory over the Brooklyn Nets, Porzingis stood during Celtics huddles and energized the bench with words of encouragement, finding ways to contribute that weren’t accounted for in the box score or as Jaylen Brown called it, digging in his “coaching bag.”

Having Porzingis fresh, healthy and energized is a complete game-changer for the Celtics. He averaged 20.1 points while shooting a career-best 51.6% from the field, giving opposing teams issues night after night by draining 37.5% of his 5.1 threes. New York’s former “Unicorn” became Boston’s answer for the city’s long wait for Banner 18.

So far, as the Eastern Conference has undergone an early-season collapse, nothing is stopping Porzingis and the Celtics from picking up where they left off.

“I’m looking forward to him coming back,” Jrue Holiday said, per CLNS Media. “Even just doing little drills here with him today, he just makes the game so much easier with his length, being able to protect the rim. And then obviously offensively, he makes the game so much easier for everybody; creating space for driving lanes or 3-point shots, not being able to switch off of him or when he gets a switch, him being able to take advantage of that. So can’t wait for him to come back.”

Porzingis is projected to return sometime in December.