Kristaps Porzingis continues to make progress after offseason surgery on his left leg and there’s hope that he might be able to return soon, writes Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. Porzingis underwent a procedure for a torn retinaculum and dislocated posterior tibialis tendon in late June after the NBA Finals ended and was projected to miss five-to-six months. He appears to be right on schedule, as coach Joe Mazzulla said Porzingis has started doing some full-court one-on-five work with assistant coaches.
“I’m looking forward to him coming back,” said Jrue Holiday, who did some defensive work with Porzingis during Friday’s practice. “Even just doing little drills here with him today, he just makes the game so much easier with his length, being able to protect the rim. And then, obviously, offensively he just makes the game so much easier for everybody. Creating space for driving lanes or 3-point shots. Not being able to switch off of him, or when he gets a switch him being able to take advantage of that. Can’t wait for him to come back.”
Himmelsbach notes that Porzingis has tried to stay close to his teammates while he’s out of action. He has been accompanying the team on road trips and can frequently be heard shouting advice from the bench during games.
“I think that’s important, especially for a guy that’s not playing, to be as engaged as he is,” Mazzulla said. “It makes it easier for when he starts to come back and we’ll just plug him right in, because he’s been here the whole time. That’s a commitment. That’s hard to sit there day in and day out and do that. So I appreciate that he does that. I think it brings a level of professionalism and togetherness to our locker room, and it’s been fun to watch.”
There’s more from Boston:
- The Celtics are coming off their first two-day break since the season began, so they were able to have their first practice session on Friday since the end of training camp, Himmelsbach adds. “I think we’re all professionals here,” Holiday said. “I think that watching film, either individually or as a team, does what it needs to do. But I do think having days where we can get on the court and actually run through it and kind of go through it in motion is obviously better. But I think we make it work.”
- Holiday, who’s dealing with left knee tendinopathy, has been declared out for tonight’s game, the Celtics announced (via Twitter).
- Rookie guard Baylor Scheierman is averaging 28.5 points, 9.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists in his first two games with the Maine Celtics, but Mazzulla views the G League experience as more than just putting up numbers, per Souichi Terada of MassLive. “Getting on the G league schedule, having to perform every single night, having to compete every single night, just getting those like last night again and that could be really hard,” Mazzulla said. “So, just good to see him do that and then obviously just continue to execute the things on both ends of the floor that are important for the Celtics.”