Celtics' Kristaps Porziņģis Says He'll 'Be Good,' Reportedly Avoids Achilles Injury

The Boston Celtics rolled to a 17-point halftime lead in Monday's Game 4 of their first-round series against the Miami Heat, but it wasn't all good news for the Eastern Conference's No. 1 seed.

Big man Kristaps Porziņģis suffered a non-contact injury in the second quarter and exited to the locker room. The Celtics then announced he was doubtful to return with what was deemed right calf tightness, and he didn't come back into the game.

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported the plan is for Porziņģis to undergo imaging Tuesday but noted "early indications are that he hasn't sustained an Achilles injury."

Porziņģis himself said he "will be good."

The 28-year-old had seven points and three rebounds on 1-of-5 shooting from the field and 1-of-3 shooting from deep prior to suffering the injury.

Health has always been something of a concern for the veteran, who has not played more than 66 games in a season since he was a rookie in 2015-16. He also missed the entire 2018-19 season with a torn ACL and appeared in 57 games in 2023-24.

The Latvian averaged 20.1 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game while shooting 51.6 percent from the field and 37.5 percent from deep in those 57 contests as a matchup nightmare who can take advantage of the spacing playing alongside Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown creates.

Frankly, Boston likely doesn't need him to defeat a Heat squad that is playing without Jimmy Butler and Terry Rozier. The bigger questions come into play when projecting ahead to later rounds and potential series against the likes of the New York Knicks, Indiana Pacers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Orlando Magic or others.

The Celtics are also in championship-or-bust mode and would likely need Porziņģis for a hypothetical NBA Finals matchup against someone like Chet Holmgren, Nikola Jokić, Rudy Gobert or others.

For now, Boston can rely on veteran Al Horford to anchor its frontcourt.

The 37-year-old isn't the same player he was at his peak, but he has plenty of postseason experience and should be able to help keep the Celtics afloat until Porziņģis can return.