The rare ankle injury that Kristap Porzingis suffered during the NBA Finals is going to have ramifications for next season, too.
The Boston Celtics center underwent surgery for the torn retinaculum and dislocated posterior tibialis tendon he sustained in Game 2 against the Dallas Mavericks, his team announced Thursday morning.
The recovery is expected to take five-to-six months. With the 2024-25 regular season set to begin in late October, the Celtics will likely be without Porzingis for at least a month into their championship defense.
Porzingis missed Games 3 and 4 of this month’s NBA Finals but played through the injury in Boston’s series-clinching Game 5 win.
He totaled five points and a rebound in 16 minutes in that 106-88 victory.
“I will fix it,” Porzingis told ESPN that night of his injury. “This is the most important, and after my injury healing, and all that, it’s totally worth it.”
Originally drafted No. 4 overall by the Knicks in 2015, Porzingis also played for the Mavericks and the Washington Wizards before being acquired by Boston last offseason.
Porzingis, 28, averaged 20.1 points and 7.2 rebounds per game for the top-seeded Celtics in the regular season but missed much of the postseason with a calf strain he suffered in the first round.
The 7-3 center returned from that injury in Game 1 of the Finals and scored 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting to help give Boston a 1-0 lead in the series. He scored 12 points in Game 2.
The championship was Porzingis’ first in nine NBA seasons.
His arrival helped put Boston over the top after five trips to the Eastern Conference Finals in the previous seven years — and a 2022 Finals berth — that didn’t end in a championship.
The Celtics also acquired point guard Jrue Holiday, an elite defender and veteran floor general, last offseason to bolster a lineup led by star wings Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
Due to Porzingis’ injuries, 38-year-old center Al Horford started 15 of the Celtics’ 19 playoff games this year, averaging 9.2 points and 7.0 rebounds per game during the championship run. Horford, who has one year remaining on his contract, plans to return for another season.
