By Jay King, Jared Weiss and Manny Navarro
Though the Boston Celtics took care of business on the road, defeating the Miami Heat 102-88 on Monday, they also received a scare when Kristaps Porziņģis immediately called for a sub after tweaking his right calf late in the second quarter. While he limped off the court and into the locker room area, the frustration on his face was evident, prompting fear he had suffered a serious injury. When the Celtics ruled him doubtful to return to Game 4, that was taken as a positive sign that he had likely avoided a dreaded Achilles injury.
The calf could still be a problem. He missed seven games due to a calf issue in November and December. Despite the initial doubtful status, Porziņģis was not on the bench when the second half opened, leaving Al Horford to start the third quarter in his place.
Porziņģis finished his night with seven points and three rebounds.
Kristaps Porzingis heads to the locker room after suffering an apparent non-contact injury at the end of the second quarter.
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Here are Monday’s playoff takeaways.
Celtics 102, Heat 88
Series: Boston leads 3-1
Game 5: Wednesday in Boston
How much of a concern would a long Porziņģis absence be?
Jayson Tatum recently called Porziņģis “probably our most important guy on our team for what we’re trying to accomplish.” The Celtics see Porziņģis as the answer to some of their old flaws, a cheat code of sorts for teams who will try to take away Boston’s rhythm by switching everything. Though the Celtics went 21-4 without Porziņģis this season, he transforms them on both ends of the court. If he needs to miss extended time, Horford would need to take on a heavier burden in the frontcourt, not necessarily ideal for the 37-year-old. Behind him, Joe Mazzulla could either use Luke Kornet or Xavier Tillman as a second center. Neither of those options would come close to replicating Porziņģis’ versatility as a scorer.
GO DEEPER
Kristaps Porziņģis’ hot shooting, sprained ankle underscore his importance to Celtics offense
With Porziņģis’ long injury history, the team spent much of the season trying to manage his body and prepare him to stay healthy at this time of the year. This injury is at the very least a setback and could become a major story line if he needs to sit out for long. For a playoff injury, the timing actually doesn’t seem terrible, though. The Celtics, up 3-1 against the Heat, would either face the Cavaliers or Magic in the next round and would still be heavy favorites without Porziņģis. — Jay King, Celtics beat writer
In Porziņģis’ absence, Derrick White puts his stamp on the series
While the Celtics await news on Porziņģis’ injury, they can take solace in Derrick White having one of the best games of his career. White finished with a new playoff career-high 38 points in Boston’s Game 4 victory. That mark is the second-most without a free-throw attempt in NBA playoff history, trailing only Chuck Person for the Pacers (39 against Celtics in Game 2 of 1991 first round).
White was electric shooting the ball in Game 4, but took it to another level when he started throwing down dunks in the third quarter to help the Celtics regain control of the game. After Tatum rolled his ankle in the fourth quarter, Boston will be looking for White to ease the playmaking burden on him.
As Boston tries to close out the series in Game 5, they are going to rely on White to continue his hot shooting and defensive acuity. He took on a bigger role covering Tyler Herro and chasing him over screens nonstop in Game 4, something the Heat will have to rework if they want to extend the series.
Jrue Holiday is usually the guard defender Boston uses to knock guys off their rhythm, but White was great at rushing Herro out of his comfort zone and getting some stops at the rim. Miami’s only way back into this series is another eruption from Herro both as a shooter and a playmaker, so White will be the key to Game 5 as the Celtics look to move on to the second round. — Jared Weiss, Celtics beat writer
Have the Heat exhausted all options?
Fifty-six seconds. That’s how long the Heat have held the lead since this first-round playoff series shifted south from Boston tied at 1.
The good news for Miami? Those 56 seconds all came on Monday night after Nikola Jovic hit a corner 3 to give the Heat a 3-2 lead at the start of Game 4. That’s technically progress.
The Celtics have completely dominated this series since the Heat stole Game 2 with a franchise playoff-record 3-point shooting barrage. Boston has completely suffocated Miami’s ball handlers and diffused the Heat’s perimeter shooting.
The Celtics led by as many as 28 on Monday before the Heat trimmed it down to 13 with about five minutes to go in the fourth quarter. That was the extent of the excitement as Miami shot 9 of 33 from 3-point range (27.3 percent) and turned it over 13 times (Tyler Herro had five).
Counter moves? Heat coach Erik Spoelstra doesn’t have any other available weapons to turn to. He’s played everyone he can. Delon Wright and Patty Mills played a combined 51 minutes and tallied 11 points together.
Duncan Robinson — and his ailing back — played three minutes and missed his only 3-point shot. Kevin Love went 0-for-2 from beyond the arc in seven minutes off the bench.
The Heat have exhausted all of its options. Game 5 and elimination awaits Wednesday. — Manny Navarro, Miami sports writer
Tuesday’s schedule:
- 76ers at Knicks: 7 p.m. ET, TNT (New York leads 3-1)
- Magic at Cavaliers: 8 p.m. ET, NBA TV (Series tied 2-2)
- Pacers at Bucks: 9:30 p.m. ET, TNT (Indiana leads 3-1)
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(Photo: Brian Babineau / NBAE via Getty Images)
