DHL Dan CCVIII - The Porzingis Effect

Shank considers the impact of Celtics center Kirstaps Porzingis' calf injury during the playoffs:

Wondering about the Porzingis effect on the Celtics’ chances, and other thoughts

Picked-up pieces while wondering if the Celtics can win a championship without Kristaps Porzingis …

▪ As the Celtics prepare for a Round 2 Tomato Can, one can’t help but wonder how they’ll fare if forced to play the conference finals and (presumably) NBA Finals without Porzingis.

The Big Fella suffered a soleus strain in his calf in Game 4 against the Heat Monday and is on the shelf indefinitely. Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo sustained a similar, non-contact injury April 9 against the Celtics and did not play again prior to the Bucks’ elimination by the Pacers Thursday night.

Watching Porzingis limp off the court in Miami, I thought of the 68-win Celtics of 1972-73, who were stopped in the conference finals by the Knicks after John Havlicek injured his right shoulder fighting through a Dave DeBusschere pick in the third game of that seven-game series. Hondo missed Game 4 entirely and came off the bench in the final three games, but he was a shell of himself and scored only 4 points when the Celtics were routed at home in Game 7.