The Boston Celtics will come out of the NBA All-Star break with the best record in the NBA and have a commanding six-game lead on top of the Eastern Conference.
Center Kristaps Porzingis has been a huge piece of that success with 20.2 points and 6.9 rebounds per game in his first season with the franchise. However, he was dealing with back and ankle injuries prior to the All-Star break.
Here’s the latest timeline for Porzingis’ return and how bettors should approach the Celtics while he’s sidelined.
Kristaps Porzingis injury news
Boston played back-to-back games against the Brooklyn Nets prior to the All-Star break and Porzingis missed the first game with the aforementioned back injury before suffering an ankle injury in the first half of the second game. Afterwards, the center revealed that he was available for the second half, but the Celtics opted to shut him down with the game already well in hand.
With over a week off to rest with the break, Porzingis should be healthy and ready to go when Boston returns to the floor against the Chicago Bulls on Thursday.
Playoff implications for Celtics
As mentioned before, Boston currently has the best record in the entire league and should be able to maintain it as long as its core of Porzingis, Jayson Tatum, and Jaylen Brown are healthy down the stretch.
Betting/fantasy impact
Porzingis should be fine after the break and in the event that he’s not, the Celtics will most likely shift to a smaller lineup and that opens the door for someone like forward Sam Hauser to become a bigger asset in DFS format. That would also open the door for backup center Luke Kornet to get more minutes.