Kristaps Porzingis missed the last two games for the Hawks due to an illness, but it appears he’ll be back on the court soon. Porzingis is listed as questionable on the injury report ahead of Monday’s game against the Bulls. The big man has dealt with flu-like symptoms.
Fortunately, it doesn’t sound like Porzingis’ illness is connected to the one he battled during the playoffs with the Celtics last season. Porzingis revealed the diagnosis of that illness in a recent interview: postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, or POTS. The condition can increase a person’s heart rate while standing compared to laying down horizontally, which can lead to exhaustion of dizziness.
Porzingis is a game-changing player when talented as he can affect the game on both ends. But availability has been the challenge throughout his career. The Celtics saw that as Porzingis played 42 games last season before dealing with POTS during the playoffs.
It appears the POTS issue is at least behind Porzingis. He played for Latvia as part of the EuroBasket tournament, and he made his season debut already. Porzingis put up 20 points, seven rebounds and two blocks in 26 minutes for the Hawks on opening night.
The Hawks entered the season with playoff expectations after offseason moves, which included trading for Porzingis from the Celtics. Atlanta is 1-2 to start its season.
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