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By Noah Camras
Contributing Sports Writer
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Boston Celtics big man Kristaps Porzingis has suffered a torn medial retinaculum in his left leg, allowing dislocation of the posterior tibialis tendon. The team made the announcement on Tuesday.
Porzingis, 28, suffered the injury at the 3:27 minute mark of the third quarter in Game 2. The injury is unrelated to his right calf injury that sidelined him for a majority of the NBA playoffs.
The team called it a "rare injury," and said his availability for the remainder of the NBA Finals will be determined "day-to-day."
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Porzingis went on record following the team's Game 2 win over the Dallas Mavericks saying, "I'll die out there if we need," when asked how difficult it would be to play through the injury. However, the Celtics have made it clear that they'll take this injury very seriously.
Celtics head coach Joe Mazulla called it a "serious injury," and said the Celtics' medical team will make the decisions regarding Porzingis' availability. Thus, it won't be up to Porzingis if he's able to suit up or not.
Mazulla added, "(Porzingis is) doing anything and everything he can to be able to play."
Here's a video of Porzingis walking on Tuesday, shortly after the news came out:
If Porzingis is unable to play, it would be an enormous blow for the Celtics, who played without their star big man for 10 games this postseason after he left their Game 4 win in the first round of the playoffs. Porzingis made his return in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, and was incredible, scoring 20 points, grabbing six rebounds, and blocking three shots in just 20 minutes of action off the bench.
Porzingis came off the bench in Game 2 and had another strong performance, scoring 12 points with four rebounds and two blocked shots in 23 minutes.
The Celtics have played very well without Porzingis this season, with a record of 30-5 including the regular season and playoffs. However, his impact has not gone unnoticed through the first two games of this series against the Mavericks.
More news: NBA Finals MVP Leaderboard: Top 5 Candidates in Celtics vs Mavericks
Game 3 for Celtics vs. Mavericks is Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. PT. It will be the first of two games in Dallas, before the series heads back to Boston for Game 5, assuming Dallas is able to win at least one of the two games.
The Celtics will continue providing updates on Porzingis over the next 24-plus hours. They'll hope he's able to suit up for Game 3, which is essentially a must-win game for the Mavericks. No team in NBA playoff history has come back from a 0-3 deficit.
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