NBA
Celtics’ Kristaps Porzingis says ankle surgery rehab was the easiest he’s been through
Joe Lyons is a sports writer and has also been published by Nottingham Forest FC, working with the academy and senior teams to produce content on matchdays. He formerly covered the Premier League and EFL as an on-site reporter during the 2020/21 season for Prost International. He is an expert in a range of sports including soccer, basketball, darts and American football. Joe specialises in long form SEO content alongside news, tips and betting. His sports betting work can be found on SportsLens and The Sports Daily. Joe has a keen eye for the sports betting industry in the USA which covers the NBA and NFL, tracking and analysing the market as it changes throughout the season.
All posts by Joe LyonsUpdated51 mins ago on November 27, 2024
Boston Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis made his highly anticipated return to action this week and admitted this rehab was the easiest one he’s had.
Porzingis made return on Tuesday following ankle injury suffered in the Finals
Celtics fans were over the moon to see their championship-winning center make a return to action in a blowout win over the LA Clippers, where he put up 16 points on 6-12 shooting in just 23 minutes.
The Latvian hasn’t been dealt the best of hands in terms of injury luck throughout his career – suffering a torn ACL which caused him to miss all of the 2019 season, a torn meniscus in the 2020 playoffs and he was absent from most of Boston’s triumphant playoff run.
In Game 2 of the NBA Finals in June, Porzingis suffered a torn medial retinaculum and sat out of Games 3 and 4 before playing a small part in the series-ending Game 5 at TD Garden which saw the Celtics win their first Larry O’Brien trophy since 2008.
He’s been through a lot of recovery processes, but the 7-foot-2 big man admitted that his most recent one was the easiest to navigate so far:
“Honestly, I would say, it was one of the easiest rehabs for me. The only thing was I had to stay off the ankle for four-to-six weeks, so it was tough. Just on one leg with the scooter, can’t get up the stairs.”
“It was a little bit difficult from that perspective but once that moment passed and I was able to walk, honestly it felt pretty natural. When I was playing Game 5, that was when it didn’t feel natural. That’s when you could tell something was off. But once Dr. O’Malley fixed it, it felt super natural and it just needed time to heal and get stronger.”
Kristaps Porzingis on his offseason surgery and the recovery process:
“I’d say it was one of my easiest rehabs.” pic.twitter.com/IgTnJ1ffqg
— Daniel Donabedian (@danield1214) November 26, 2024
Celtics’ back-to-back hopes likely rest on Porzingis’ health and consistency
It’s probably fair to say that Porzingis was the missing piece of the puzzle for Boston to get over that hump and deliver the franchise’s 18th banner, with many close calls over the years.
In 2018, the Celtics lost in 7 games to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Conference Finals. In 2020, they fell in 6 games to the Miami Heat at the same stage. In 2022, they lost to the Golden State Warriors in the Finals. And in 2023, the Heat prevailed again to win the Conference Finals in 7.
Once Porzingis arrived in Massachusetts, it was clear to see that things were different. The Celtics’ offense was almost unstoppable. He offered a new angle of attack for Joe Mazzulla’s side by stretching the floor and acting as a dominant force inside.
According to the best online betting sites, Boston are the championship favorites once again to go back-to-back. But they’ll need every bit of Porzingis’ production to help them along the way.
