The Boston Celtics have been on a role to start this season, as the team is 14-3 at this early juncture, sits in second place in the Eastern Conference behind the scorching hot Cleveland Cavaliers (who Boston has already beaten this year), and looks to be in as good of a position to defend a championship as any team in recent memory. All of this has happened without the services of Kristaps Porzingis, who has not played this season after suffering a foot injury during the NBA Finals that required surgery.
Fortunately for the Celtics, their time without Porzingis on the floor is about to come to an end. According to Shams Charania of ESPN, Boston is going to get Porzingis back during Monday night’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers.
“Porzingis has been making rapid improvements in his recovery from foot surgery in late June, completing scrimmages in recent weeks of practices with the Celtics and their NBA G League affiliate, Maine,” Charania wrote.
Porzingis joined the Celtics via a trade with the Washington Wizards last offseason and immediately became a perfect fit for how Joe Mazzulla wants to use his centers. His three point shooting and ability to protect the rim were invaluable when he was able to play, but a calf injury limited him to only seven games in the team’s run to a championship last year. Not long after his return in the NBA Finals, the Celtics announced that Porzingis suffered a torn medial retinaculum allowing dislocation of the posterior tibialis tendon in his left leg during Game 2, which the team deemed a “rare injury.” He was able to play 16 minutes in their Game 5 win that sealed a championship, but needed offseason surgery.