The Boston Celtics take on the Dallas Mavericks in Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday night, hoping to take a commanding 3-0 lead in the series. But not only will they need to win on the road to accomplish that task, they’ll need to do it without Kristaps Porzingis.
After suffering what the team described as a “rare injury” in Game 2, Porzingis was ruled out for Game 3. The team initially listed Porzingis as “day-to-day” with the injury, which the team called a “torn medial retinaculum allowing dislocation of the posterior tibialis tendon” in his left leg.
Boston head coach Joe Mazzulla said on Tuesday that he would leave the decision to the medical staff. According to ESPN writer Tim Bontemps, the medical staff worked Porzingis out ahead of Game 3 on Wednesday, but did not feel he was ready to play in this game:
Mazzulla said the medical team watched Porzingis go through some testing and it was decided he wasn’t good enough to play in this game. Mazzulla had said yesterday this decision would be up to the medical team, and not Porzingis. https://t.co/q4fS041H4S
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) June 12, 2024
As noted by Bontemps, Mazzulla reiterated that Porzingis is still being described as “day-to-day” even after being ruled out for Game 3.