Kristaps Porzingis remains optimistic but ‘not super close’ to returning from calf injury

Kristaps Porzingis exited the court in Game 4 against the Miami Heat with a towel over his head and frustration coursing through his body.

As he was completing a dribble-hand-off with Jaylen Brown, he pulled up gingerly, favoring his right calf. After an MRI the following day, it was revealed that he suffered a soleus strain—the same injury that kept Giannis Antetokounmpo out of the playoffs and one that can take weeks to fully heal.

“It’s something, it’s not nothing, you know?” Porzingis told reporters at Celtics practice on Saturday in his first time speaking with the media since the injury. “So, it will take a little bit of time for sure. But I’m doing everything I can to speed it up because I want to be back out there as soon as possible. But I’m understanding that the worst thing would be, probably, to reaggravate that.

“So, [we’re] being smart. And you would have to ask the medical people about the specifics of it. I’m kind of just following the plan, but, yeah, hoping for a return as soon as I start to get better.”

The Boston Celtics finished off the Heat in Game 5 with Porzingis sidelined, giving him some extra time to rest. And with the Orlando Magic’s Game 6 win on Friday night, they will take on the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 7 on Sunday, meaning Boston’s next game won’t be until Tuesday night.

Had the Cavaliers closed out the Magic in six, the Celtics would have played a Sunday matinee.

Porzingis will need all the extra time he can get, as he’s still a long way from playing again.

“There’s no, like, specific date, obviously. It’s still pretty early,” Porzingis said. “I think it will be clearer once I start doing more stuff. Once I start doing more stuff, it will be clearer. But yeah, not super close yet. Not super close yet.”

Yet the big man is still in good spirits.

“But expecting to recover at a historic rate,” he said with a smile.

The few plays leading up to the injury were awkward. Porzingis initially rolled his ankle while battling Tyler Herro for a rebound. However, the only correlation he noted between the two plays is that he may have been favoring his right leg too much.

“I rolled my ankle the play before on offense. I was going for a rebound, and I stepped on Herro. Rolled my ankle,” Porzingis said. “Came back, maybe started to compensate with the other side a little bit too much or something. I don’t know. Maybe it just happened, I don’t know. And then yeah, as soon as I pushed off, I felt something, [and] I was like, ‘Aghh.’

“And you saw my reaction on the court, you know? But then, once we kind of got the diagnosis, I calmed down [and realized] it looks like it’s not as bad as I initially thought. It is what it is. Of course, nobody wants to get hurt. But at least it’s not as bad as it could have been.”

Though he’s not on the court practicing yet, Porzingis remains optimistic about the rate at which he’s progressing.

“I’m not on the floor yet. But very soon, I expect to start doing stuff,” Porzingis said. “Still in the weight room, still movement and slowly building up and all that and slowly building up. And I would say each day it’s a lot of progress. [It’s] still very fresh, but making progress.”

Earlier this season, Porzingis dealt with a similar injury. He missed four games at the end of November with a low-grade calf strain. Roughly two weeks after the injury, which occurred in Boston’s November 24 game against the Magic, he was back on the court.

Unfortunately, his current ailment is worse.

“This one is stronger,” Porzingis said. “Worse, yeah. I didn’t want to use that word, but yeah, it’s a little bit worse, for sure. And yeah. Just going to take a little bit longer, probably. But keeping a positive mindset.”

Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images

The conference finals are slated to begin on May 19 at the earliest. That is nearly three weeks from Porzingis’ injury, which he suffered on April 29.

Porzingis said that he hopes to travel with the team for the conference semifinals against the Cavaliers or Magic, and he’s constantly working with the Celtics medical staff to fast-track the recovery process (without skipping any steps).

“At first, it’s just to control the inflammation—start to do some movements and stuff without stretching it too much, and today I had a pretty good day,” Porzingis said of what the injury treatment looks like. “Made some steps forward. Start doing new stuff today again, and tomorrow will do some recovery stuff, and Monday I think again I will make a big jump.

“Every day, pretty big jump each day. I expect Monday to be really good and then [to] go from there.”

In the meantime, Porzingis is ready to watch Al Horford, Luke Kornet, and Xavier Tillman step up, and he’ll be around to help where he can.

“I think it’s going to be good for me to be around, just to see if I can give those guys something, something that I see, and we wanna keep going the way we’re going no matter who’s out,” he said. “I expect these guys to step up and play at a high level.”

But this is hard on Porzingis. A guy who gushed about joining the Celtics when he got to Boston this past offseason. To miss out on a huge chunk of their potential title run—one of the top reasons he wanted to be a part of this team in the first place—is devastating.

“Tough, tough, tough. I’m not going to lie, it’s tough,” Porzingis said. “The first few moments, I was like, [sigh]. It gets you down for a second, but it is what it is. It’s part of the sport. These things happen. And the best I can do now is, ‘Okay, what’s the next thing I have to do to get healthy as soon as possible and follow the plan and make sure I do everything and just getting in that mindset.’ Because I can’t change what happened in the game. And that’s it.

“So, just looking forward to making quick steps forward toward being back on the court.”