Celtics take 3-1 series lead but lose Kristaps Porzingis

MIAMI — The Boston Celtics took another step towards eliminating the rival Miami Warmth with a convincing 102-88 Sport 4 victory Monday to take a commanding 3-1 sequence lead.

However the win might need include a price, as Kristaps Porzingis, the crew’s beginning heart, hobbled off the court docket with a calf damage simply earlier than halftime and did not return. Porzingis will endure imaging Tuesday, however early indications are that he did not maintain an Achilles tendon damage, sources advised ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Following the sport, Porzingis slowly walked out of the visiting locker room space sporting a grey strolling boot on his proper foot.

Porzingis appeared to tweak one thing after catching a move from Jaylen Brown late within the second interval. Upon getting the ball, Porzingis began driving towards his left, then grimaced earlier than shortly giving the ball again to Brown and arising lame in the course of the play. Porzingis did not seem like touched by anybody on the play throughout which he was damage.

As he walked to the locker room with a help staffer, Porzingis briefly held his jersey over his face in obvious frustration.

Minutes after he sustained the damage, the Celtics issued an replace, saying Porzingis was affected by proper calf tightness. Following the sport, Porzingis posted on social media, making word of the crew’s victory and including, “Thanks for all of the help, will probably be good” with a biceps emoji on the finish of the message.

Celtics gamers held out hope that Porzingis’ damage wasn’t critical but additionally acknowledged that his presence as a ground spacer and rim-protector meant issues would change if he’s pressured to overlook time.

“All of us, our mindset has to shift,” mentioned veteran heart Al Horford, who began the second half in Porzingis’ place. “I talked to Luke [Kornet] and Xavier [Tillman], and allow them to know that each one of us should be able to step up and perform a little extra, as a result of KP was taking part in so nicely defensively.”

Stated Jayson Tatum: “We’ll should play completely different, nevertheless it’s a next-man-up mentality for nevertheless lengthy [he’s out]. Clearly I do not know something [yet] — nevertheless it’s subsequent man up. We simply should discover a solution to win every recreation.”

The 7-foot-3 Porzingis, who joined the Celtics final offseason through commerce with the Washington Wizards, match his new crew virtually completely, averaging 20 factors and 7 rebounds per contest on career-best effectivity whereas giving Boston an much more harmful five-out offense. However the Celtics, who went 21-4 within the common season when Porzingis was out, seemed simply superb Monday in his absence.

A lot of that stemmed from the Warmth having no reply for Derrick White. The guard caught fireplace from deep within the first half, wherein he shot 6-for-9 from 3, and went on to complete with a career-high 38 factors.

“It is unreal. You hit a pair, after which after some time, you’re feeling like you possibly can’t miss — the basket’s simply large,” mentioned the 6-4 White, who additionally managed to throw down a pair of uncharacteristic dunks. White’s scoring outburst made for a fair steeper climb for the short-handed, scoring-challenged Warmth, who have not been capable of replicate their scorching taking pictures from Sport 2, once they hit a franchise playoff-record 23 triples.

Together with Monday’s 9-for-33 efficiency from deep, Miami has shot simply 29.5% (18-for-61) since then. Video games 3 and 4 marked the primary time since 2022 that Miami has been held below 90 factors in back-to-back contests, be it common season or the playoffs. The Celtics had been the opponent final time it occurred, too, again within the 2022 Jap Convention finals.

Boston will search to shut out the best-of-seven sequence when it hosts Sport 5 Wednesday evening.