Why isn’t Kristaps Porzingis playing for Celtics against the Cavs in game 4 today?

After being on the end of a pummeling in the first game, Cleveland gave the Celtics a taste of their own medicine in the second, beating Joe Mazzulla’s team by 24 points at TD Garden, their first win on the road during the postseason to tie the series. But the joy was short lived as the Boston got back to winning ways in Game 3 and take the advantage into Monday’s clash at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. But they’ll be without Kristaps Porzingis once again.

Why is Porzingis missing for Boston?

Mazzulla has been without KP, the man in charge of protecting the rim for the last five games. The Cs have coped pretty well in his absence up until now. The Latvian center picked up a calf muscle injury in Round 1, retiring at the end of the second quarter of Game 3 against the Heat. At the time, Porzingis was reported to be suffering tightness to his right calf muscle but it appears the issue is obviously a little more serious than overexertion.

While Boston have not detailed the extent of Porzingis’ injury, and Mazzulla hasn’t given any fresh updates, it is believed that the player suffered a sprain. If that is a the case, even in the best case scenario, a Grade I sprain would take 2-3 weeks to fully heal.

The towering 7′3″ center is not the only player on Boston’s injury list – Luke Kornet is listed as probable – but is ruled out of Game 4. Porzingis was seen performing light shooting drills during the team’s practice last Wednesday and told reporters he is taking one step at a time: “There’s no specific date obviously. It’s still pretty early. I think it will be clear once I start doing more stuff. Not super close yet. But expecting to recover at a historic rate”.

Porzingis’ injury history

KP has struggled with his fitness throughout his career and his availability has been up and down since he joined Boston from the Wizards last June. He has been sidelined with a diverse range of injuries, sprains and knocks including: hamstring, ankle, knee back and quad injuries. He played 57 games during the regular season, averaging 29.6 minutes per game.

An imposing figure in Boston’s defence Porzingis is the team’s main rim protector with a defensive rating of 108.6 this season. Mazzulla wants to have all of his key players fit for this crucial part of the season but insisted that he won’t be rushing anyone back if they are injured. The Cs have been progressing well in Porzingis’ absence.

Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Boston Celtics will be played at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Monday 13 May, tipping off at 7 p.m. ET.