When Kristaps Porzingis concluded his first six-minute shift Wednesday night, he looked like he’d just run a marathon.
His breathing was heavy. He was visibly fatigued. When he took his seat on the Celtics bench, he dropped his head and stared at the TD Garden parquet.
The Boston big man was active and available for what teammate Payton Pritchard called a “must-win” Game 2 for his squad, trying to play through an illness that’s hindered him for months. But he clearly was not himself.
Coming off the bench for just the fifth time in his NBA career, Porzingis was limited to 14 minutes and finished as a team-worst minus-9 in a 91-90 loss to the New York Knicks at TD Garden. Two nights earlier, he exited midway through the second quarter and did not return as the Celtics lost 108-105 in overtime. Boston blew a 20-point third-quarter lead in both games.
“I’m dealing with some, I don’t know how to call it, but I’m just not feeling my best,” Porzingis said after Game 2. “I’m not feeling my best at all, but it just kills me inside that it’s happening in this moment, and what I’m super appreciative about is about the support that I have on the inside, and also probably from the fans. But especially here inside the organization in this tough moment for me to not be able to be with the guys. It’s not no injury or nothing, but I’m just not feeling my best, and it’s tough for me, honestly. But who cares? Nobody feels sorry for us, sorry for me, and we have to keep going.”
Porzingis said his current condition is “probably” related to the viral illness that sidelined him for nine games in late February and early March. Head coach Joe Mazzulla said the same on Tuesday, acknowledging that the 7-foot-2 center has been “kind of dealing with it on and off, fighting through it, working through it, doing the best that he can” since he returned to the lineup on March 15.
“I’ve had, like, ups and downs throughout up until this point,” Porzingis said. “Just now, I had a big crash now, and my energy, my everything, hasn’t been good. But who cares? I have to look forward, and it’ll get better from this point on.”
The Celtics certainly hope so. They were able to weather Porzingis’ extended absence last postseason — he was inactive for 11 games due to lower leg injuries, and Boston won 10 of them — but his limitations have hurt them in this series. The Celtics have been mired in a disastrous team-wide shooting slump, posting their two worst field-goal percentages of the season in Games 1 and 2, and top stars Jayson Tatum (12-for-42, 5-for-20 from 3-point range over the two games) and Jaylen Brown (14-for-43, 3-for-17 from three) both have struggled.
Porzingis has played just 27 minutes in the series and less than four in the fourth quarter or overtime. Mazzulla kept him on the bench for the final 8:27 on Wednesday as the Knicks completed their comeback.
“I feel like Kristaps being out definitely impacted our group,” big man Al Horford said after Game 1.
Even when he has been on the court, Porzingis’ contributions have been muted. He’s scored fewer than 10 points in five of Boston’s seven playoff games after doing so just once in 42 regular-season appearances. His rebounding and block numbers are down, and his 34.9% field-goal percentage and 16.7% 3-point percentage both rank last among Celtics rotation players, though he did go 3-for-5 and 1-for-1 from three in Game 2.
Porzingis shot 41.2% from deep during the regular season, the second-best mark on the team behind bench sharpshooter Sam Hauser, who’s also struggled this postseason and missed Wednesday’s loss with an ankle sprain.
The Celtics will have two days off before Game 3 on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden. No NBA team has come back from an 0-3 deficit to win a playoff series.
“We were expected to win,” Porzingis said. “For us to be in this hole right now, with our backs against the wall, we have nothing to lose. We’ve got to go out there, leave it all out on the floor. I think it’s a lot of basketball left to be played, and we’ll see where it goes.”