The Celtics overcame the loss of Kristaps Porzingis on Saturday night in a 118-101 win over the Pacers. The big man suffered an eye injury in the first quarter of the win after he was poked in the face by Pacers forward Aaron Nesmith with 7:06 remaining in the quarter.
After getting some attention from Boston’s training staff including some eye drops, Porzingis returned to the game one minute later but only stayed on the floor for two more minutes before being taken out of the game. Boston declared him as questionable to return a short time later with right eye irritation and he did not play for the final 40 minutes of Boston’s win despite coming out and warming up before the start of the second half.
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla had no update on Porzingis’ status after the win but Porzingis told reporters in Indiana he was “OK” according to The Athletic’s Jared Weiss.
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It will be a relatively quick turnaround for Porzingis who finished with two points and three rebounds in six minutes on Saturday night. Boston will remain in Indiana for the next two days before facing off against the Pacers again on Monday night. Al Horford picked up the slack in the big man’s absence on Saturday night, flirting with a triple-double in Boston’s win but it appears there is a good chance Porzingis is back on the floor sooner than later after his comments.
Porzingis has played in 26 of a possible 35 games for Boston this season, missing a few games due to ankle and calf issues, along with load management. Boston is 7-2 in those contests. If Porzingis is forced to sit out on Monday due to his eye injury, look for more minutes for both Luke Kornet and Oshae Brissett in his absence.
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