Kristaps Porzingis Reveals Encouraging Update On Months-Long Illness, But It Might Be Too Late

Four games into the second playoff round, Boston Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis told reporters that he finally felt that his energy level had begun to recover from a mystery illness that sidelined him for nine games in March.

The Celtics have been tight-lipped about the specific nature of the disease, but Porzingis has been open about the long-term impacts of the upper-respiratory viral illness on his game.

“I’m dealing with some, I don’t know what to call it, but I’m just not feeling my best,” Porzingis said. “I’m not feeling my best at all, but it just kills me inside that it’s happening in this moment, and what I’m super appreciative about is about the support that I have on the inside, and also probably from the fans.”

ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that the illness affected Porzingis’ “stamina ebbs and flows,” which has kept him from playing his typical minutes. Porzingis played just 13, 14 and 19 minutes in Games 1-3 of the Celtics’ series against the New York Knicks, putting up a combined 13 points over those three games.

Following Game 4, where he played 24 minutes, Porzingis said that he felt much better.

“Tonight was the first time I felt decent, honestly,” he said. “Just everything. My energy, I was more like uplifted, and maybe didn’t have my best game, anyway. But my energy was good and I felt like I could go a bit more up and down, so that was a positive.”

But Boston also lost that game 113-121, dropping to 1-3 in a series where they had been prohibitive favorites. Even worse, Celtics star Jayson Tatum suffered an Achilles tendon rupture late in the game, taking him out for the remainder of the postseason and likely most, if not all, of next season.

It’s a good time for Porzingis to be recovering. But for the Celtics, who are facing elimination on Wednesday without their top star, that’s probably not going to be enough.

“We have a lot of talent,” Porzingis said. “Even with [Tatum] out, even me maybe playing 10-15 minutes, we have the guys and we’ve shown in the past that we can play still really good basketball. Obviously, there’s no replacement for this guy, no? Like, this is a big hit for us, 100%. But again, we have to play with the hand we’re dealt right now, and this is it.”