Dr. Kharrazi interviewed on the Celtics power forward’s injury.
Article Link: Celtics’ Kristaps Porziņģis making progress from calf strain, no timetable for return – The Athletic
DALLAS — The Boston Celtics finally got Kristaps Porziņģis back for the NBA Finals and were immediately reminded how vital he is to the team’s success. After a regular season full of small injuries forcing him to sit out occasionally, Porziņģis missed the second round and Eastern Conference finals with a soleus strain in his right calf.
Once again, he has suffered a lower-body injury that puts his availability in jeopardy. The Celtics announced before practice Tuesday that Porziņģis suffered a “rare” injury termed as a torn medial retinaculum, allowing dislocation of the posterior tibialis tendon in his left leg.
Dr. Daniel Kharrazi, an orthopedic surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Kerlan-Jobe Institute in Los Angeles and former orthopedic consultant to the Lakers, explained the injury in layperson’s terms to The Athletic as a tear of the connective tissue in the ankle that has caused instability in a tendon connecting the calf to the ankle. Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla called it a “serious injury” and said the decision to play will be made by the Celtics medical staff before Game 3 on Wednesday.
“It is out of his hands,” Mazzulla said of Porziņģis. “It’s his job to fight like hell to put himself in the best possible position to feel as good as he can. We’re not going to let him compromise himself.”
The Celtics center was wearing a black brace on his left leg that ran up his calf Tuesday. He continued to express optimism that he would be ready to play in Game 3.
Porziņģis said he suffered the injury when he was boxing out Dereck Lively II for a rebound at the 3:27 mark in the third quarter of Game 2. He said he bumped knees with Lively and “something happened.” When Porziņģis landed from contesting a Kyrie Irving shot on the following possession, he came up limping.
The Athletic’s Jared Weiss and Jay King were on the ground in Dallas to discuss Porziņģis’ injury and its potential impact as the Celtics take a 2-0 NBA Finals lead into Game 3.
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