3 days Ago By Zack Cox
After leaving Sunday’s game in Washington with a right heel injury, Kristaps Porzingis said he expected to play Thursday night against Chicago. He was right. After listing him as questionable with a heel contusion , the Celtics upgraded Porzingis to available ahead of Thursday’s matchup with the Bulls at TD Garden.
Head coach Joe Mazzulla said Porzingis looked “pretty good” in practice Wednesday but wouldn’t comment on whether the 7-foot-2 center would have a minutes restriction. “It’s just a regular game,” Mazzulla said. “At the end of the day, you’re always looking to, throughout the course of the season, make sure he’s getting the minutes that he needs to put us in a position to win, at the same time everyone’s (taken care of).
So just a normal game there.” Porzingis sat out the Celtics’ first 17 games following offseason leg surgery and has missed two additional contests since his Nov. 25 season debut.
He entered Thursday averaging 19.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.
3 blocks per game while providing a substantial boost to Boston’s rim protection. Thursday was just the second time this season that the Celtics had their entire top six of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday, Derrick White, Porzingis and Al Horford available to begin a game. Boston ruled out two other players: rotation wing Sam Hauser (low back spasms) and reserve forward Xavier Tillman (illness).
Hauser has dealt with lower back issues since the start of the season and also missed a game last week with an adductor strain. He’s been one of Boston’s most effective 3-point shooters of late, making 45.7% of his shots from beyond the arc over his last five appearances.
“I think for him, the most important this is he does a great job taking care of his body,” Mazzulla said. “Sometimes what he does in the weight room or the training room is just as important as what he does on the court. At the same time, he’s a really good player.
So he’s handled it well, kind of going in and out (of the lineup). But at the end of the day, he does everything he can to put us in position to be available as much as he can.” Tillman has played fewer than 10 minutes in 20 of the Celtics’ last 21 games and was a DNP in nine of those.
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