The Boston Celtics blew a 20-point lead in Game 1 of their series against the New York Knicks before ultimately falling in overtime, 108-105, at TD Garden.
Potentially losing home-court advantage is enough of a concern for Boston and its fans at this point, but that is far from the only potential issue facing the Celtics heading into Game 2 on Wednesday. Kristaps Porzingis was forced to leave Game 1 during the second quarter with what the team described as a "non-COVID illness" and never returned to the floor, which led to several questions for Joe Mazzulla concerning the big man's health moving forward.
“Since he came back, he’s kind of been dealing with it — working through it, fighting through it, doing the best he can,” Mazzulla said, via Noa Dalzell of CelticsBlog.com. “And I think it was just too much for him in that game. He had been working through it since he’s gotten back, and he’s done a great job of being available. It was just hard for him to continue yesterday.”
As Celtics fans remember, Porzingis missed a stretch of games from the end of February until mid-March with an upper respiratory illness that left him feeling extremely ill. Unfortunately for Porzingis, it looks like he is still dealing with some of the effects of that illness and could be throughout the postseason.
With an illness like this, it is hard to predict just how Porzingis will feel come 7 p.m. on Wednesday night when Boston and New York take the floor for Game 2 at TD Garden. Porzingis' health is the franchise's first concern, but they are also in the middle of defending their title and will push forward in hopes of repeating as NBA champions.
Should Porzingis be unable to play his normal allotment of minutes on Wednesday night, Joe Mazzulla will be forced to lean on Al Horford and Luke Kornet again to handle the load in the paint.