According to Boston Celtics PR, big man Kristaps Porzingis is entering the next phase of his recovery process. “Kristaps Porzingis has reached the next phase in his recovery. As part of his rehab plan, Porzingis and Celtics forward Xavier Tillman will be assigned to practice with the Maine Celtics at the Auerbach Center this afternoon. Following this practice, they will be recalled to the Boston Celtics, where Porzingis will continue to ramp up his workload.”
Porzingis has spent the early portion of the season recovering from offseason surgery to repair a torn medial retinaculum, allowing dislocation of the posterior tibialis tendon—a rare foot injury that he suffered in the NBA Finals.
This is phenomenal news for the Celtics.
Kristaps Porzingis is almost back
Boston has been just fine without Porzingis. They have jumped off to an 11-3 record on the season without him. But that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t want him back on the court. They need him on both ends.
Up to this point, Porzingis hasn’t been doing much on-court work with other players, at least not to the knowledge of the public. At Media Day, Porzingis said that he was running a bit, but hearing that he’s going to go through a live practice is big news.
Xavier Tillman also joining Maine for the practice, which is likely the Celtics’ way of giving Porzingis a guy to match up with. They could have someone like Dmytro Skapintsev or Hason Ward guard Porzingis, but Tillman is an NBA-ready body capable of challenging the Latvian star in practice.
For the past few weeks, all indications have stated that Porzingis should be returning around December, and that date is rapidly approaching. It’s less than two weeks away, so to hear that Porzingis is taking the next step in his rehab process should have fans raising their eyebrows.
It could just be a matter of games before Porzingis is back on the court for the Celtics, and that could help them in some key areas.
Offensively, Porzingis will provide the Celtics with a new look they can go to. His post game is something that nobody else on the team can replicate. He’ll give them a way to bully matchups all over the court.
But his defensive impact will perhaps be even more important for Boston. The Celtics have struggled to protect the paint this year, and having Porzingis’ rim protection on the backline will give them a huge boost in that area.