Orlando Magic v Boston Celtics - Game Five
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The Boston Celtics added context to Kristaps Porziņģis' limitations during the NBA playoffs as president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said Monday that Porziņģis battled "post-viral syndrome" throughout the final stretch of the season. The Celtics previously described his condition as an upper respiratory and non-COVID illness, and coach Joe Mazzulla said after Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals vs. the New York Knicks that Porziņģis missed the second half of the contest because "he couldn't breathe."
Porziņģis battled an illness during the regular season and the setback in the playoffs came well after he returned to action. The veteran center missed eight consecutive games in February and March with the initial condition.
"I don't think anyone was more frustrated than him," Stevens said. "And I felt for him because the way it was described to me was just post-viral syndrome, which is just lingering effects of a long illness."
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Porziņģis entered four of the seven Eastern Conference semifinals games off the bench and averaged just 15.5 minutes per game across the series. He did not play more than 24 minutes in a single contest, marking a significant downturn in action in comparison to the previous month and a half.
"I thought he had really turned the corner there towards the end of the regular season," said Stevens. "When we went to Madison Square Garden, he was so good. And then even in the first round. And then for whatever reason, he just didn't feel as good there early in the Knicks series and never really felt great. Now, in the middle of a playoff series where you play every other day, it's not an ideal situation to get feeling better, especially with the travel and everything else and the amount of physical force these guys put on their bodies."
Porziņģis' production tailed off in the conference semifinals as he averaged just 4.2 points, 3.7 rebounds and half an assist per game, coinciding with his reduced role. For the season, he tallied 19.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists per contest.
Stevens said the Celtics expect Porziņģis to improve over the coming weeks and that he will play for Latvia in EuroBasket, the quadrennial international championship series sanctioned by FIBA Europe. The competition begins Aug. 27 when Latvia squares off against Turkey.
"For a week, [I was] really just laying at home, trying to recover," Porzingis said on March 15 after he returned from the eight-game absence. "And then after that, I still had lingering fatigue. And, I still have it a little bit, but at least now, I'm getting into, more or less, shape to be able to play. But yeah, after each workout, I was — boom, big crash. So, I was really, really fatigued. Not normal. It was extremely, extremely frustrating not knowing what I had. I haven't been this sick, probably ever, in my life."