Celtics' Kristaps Porziņģis Out vs. Mavericks in NBA Finals Game 3 with Leg Injury

The Boston Celtics have a 2-0 lead in the 2024 NBA Finals, but they will be short-handed when they take the floor against the Dallas Mavericks for Wednesday's Game 3.

Boston announced big man Kristaps Porziņģis will be sidelined by the left posterior tibialis dislocation he suffered during the team's Game 2 win.

On Tuesday, the Celtics classified Porziņģis as day-to-day while explaining the "rare injury" was unrelated to the calf injury that kept him out for the majority of the Eastern Conference playoffs.

For his part, the 2017-18 All-Star said he felt "good" and wanted to play.

"Let me play," Porziņģis told reporters when discussing what he is telling his team's training staff. "I feel good. Let's do treatment. Obviously, yeah I can't trick them into making me or allowing me to play, but I will try."

Those comments were notable when juxtaposed against the ones from Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla.

Mazzulla told reporters it was a "serious injury" and the team wasn't going to allow Porziņģis to be the one who would determine whether he would play.

This is a setback for Boston's championship hopes, as Porziņģis has been largely excellent in the NBA Finals despite missing so much time earlier in the playoffs with the calf injury. Most notably, he finished with 20 points, six rebounds and three blocks on 8-of-13 shooting from the field and 2-of-4 shooting from deep off the bench in a dominant Game 1 performance.

He was also solid in Game 2 with 12 points, four rebounds and two blocks on 4-of-7 shooting in 23 minutes.

Still, using caution makes sense in this case. Not only do the Celtics have the cushion of the 2-0 lead, but they also know they can win without Porziņģis in the lineup.

He suffered the calf injury during the first-round matchup with the Miami Heat and missed the next two series against the Cleveland Cavaliers and Indiana Pacers. To Boston's credit, it lost just one combined game in those two series thanks in large part to the overall depth on its roster.

That depth will once again be put to the test Wednesday.