Kristaps Porzingis won’t return for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. The Celtics big man has been listed as out for the opener against the Pacers on Tuesday, the team’s PR department tweets.
Another frontcourt player, Xavier Tillman, is listed as questionable due to personal reasons.
It’s no surprise Porzingis will remained sidelined. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported over the weekend that Porzingis would likely miss at least the first two games of the conference finals, but there’s optimism he’ll return sometime during the series.
Porzingis has been out with a calf injury since Game 5 of the first round against the Heat on April 30, missing the entirety of Boston’s second-round series against Cleveland. Porzingis has been making progress in his recovery and is increasing his on-court activity.
In 57 regular season games, Porzingis averaged 20.1 points and 7.2 rebounds per contest and shot 51.6% from the field and 37.5% from beyond the arc while helping the Celtics to an NBA-best 64 wins. He was traded by the Wizards to Boston in a three-team blockbuster last summer.
Tillman has only appeared in three postseason games, logging a total of 25 minutes.
Im very curious as to how the C’s plan on containing Siakam. I’m guessing Jrue is gonna be the primary but I imagine we’re gonna see a good deal of zone tbh link to m.youtube.com
Maybe that wanna be superstar (JT) shoould defend opposing star player that happens to play on his spot
Why are you so sad about Tatum?
He’s a very good defensive player, you big sad casual you.
Sounds good to me, Tatum covering Pascal.
“Wannabe?”
Serious dude you think Jrue a 6’ 4” guard is primary….. Siakam was postín Achiuwa and OG. Celtics have plenty size to throw at Siakam ….. and it won’t be Jrue. Considering Pacers guard is best player. That’s where you will find Jrue. He has to contain Hali.
I would bet that Derrick White spends the majority of the time defending Haliburton. Nothing against Jrue but White is younger and quicker. Holiday will defend whomever needs defending including Siakim although that won’t be his primary assignment. As far as Siakim goes I would think it’d be by committee but mostly Jaylen Brown as he doesn’t give up that much size to Pascal.
Jalen is smaller than OG. Siakam needs a big on him primarily. Al, KP, Kornet backing them. Imo Siakam is the most trouble for Celtics.
Brown would be giving up 2 inches and seven pounds, that’s it. They’ll both spend some some time on him but Horford and Kornet can’t keep up with Siakim and Porzingis is out for now. Horford will mostly guarding Turner.
Brown could defend him adequately, but the sooner or later, he’ll get cooked by Siakam. Siakam doesn’t rely on strength to score; he can play one on one using quickness and fundamentals, plus he’s long for his height, or simply shoot over him.
Don’t let Tyrese Haliburton get a three-point shot off, right from the get go. Making one gets him going. Gotta keep all these guys off rhythm. Celts need super energetic defense when game starts. Go Celtics!
Good point Sankara. I think pacers will initiate offense through siakam and celtics will opt for zone. One thing is certain, we will see a lot 3pt attemps and thus the score could easily go +/-20pts.
No KP means Pacers have a legitimate shot here. Hope they steal gm one.
You said Miami had a legit shot. Then you said Cleveland had a legit shot. Neither of those teams had the slightest chance. Now you say Indy has a legit shot. Celtics were 21 and 4 without Porzingis this year.
Then on another thread you’re crowing about how great it is that Brunson is the Knicks number one. That ain’t great bro.
You like to talk hoops or are you a homer? Your takes are all biased.
I never said any of that.
What I say is after a team moves on. You do understand someone wins a series right. Then is it ok with you if I pick the next rd. Or is that only for talking heads who get paid to do it.
Or clowns who think we can’t pick winners of series. There are 16 teams in playoffs. Some win some lose. We all pick winners as it goes to Finals. What part of this do you need help with …….
you said all of that. You’ve been dogging the celtics this whole time. Just take the L and move on
I thought the Celtics did a good job of covering Pascal Siakam when he was with Toronto. Maybe Siakam is better now, probably as he’s in his prime at 30 years old, but still, I hope that good defense coverage of him carries over. Go Celts!
The Larry Bird series. Ironically, whoever wins gets the Larry Bird ECF MVP award.
Boston in 5.
Former Celtic Aaron Nesmith, playing his old team, is going to be really pumped up. We’ll see how his 3pt shooting holds up. He never could get it going when with the Celts but his percentage is right up there now.
In the 77 year history of the NBA, six teams seeded 6th or worse ever made it to a conference final. 1981 Rockets, 1987 Supersonics, 1995 Rockets, 1999 Knicks, 2023 Heat, and now 2024 Pacers. 4 of the first 5 won their series to reach the NBA Finals.