The Celtics leave the Heat without Kristaps Porziņģis as Boston's “sixth starter” answers the call

BOSTON – Before this season, Celtics star Jayson Tatum called a meeting of their “six starters,” mostly to make sure whoever would be left from the starting five was cool. Sixteen years into his NBA career, Al Horford assumed the reserve role, knowing his number 42 would still be used if needed.

And Horford is needed now more than ever as Kristaps Porziņģis was diagnosed with a right soleus strain that cost the Celtics' starting center a narrow first-round win over the Miami Heat on Wednesday.

“My approach is about what I can do to help our team win, put us in the best position and how I can impact a team with that,” Horford told Yahoo Sports. “And my mindset was simple. When that happened I had to make a decision and ultimately I know what I can bring to a team and what I can do. I just had to do it differently now and in the future,” a way I’m not used to.

“Ultimately it was like, 'I accept it, I stay the course, and when my opportunities come… I'll be ready for it.' It was happening all season and now that it has happened I had to be ready to step up.

Wednesday's 118-84 win in Game 5 gives the Celtics some time to sort out Porzingis' status. It's a difficult injury to assess. If he returns too soon, Porzingis could endanger his Achilles tendon. According to In Street Clothes, the average recovery time is 17 days, but for more severe strains this time can extend to six weeks. That's the difference between returning to the Conference Finals on time and potentially missing the NBA Finals.

“We'll just wait a week and see where he's at,” second-year Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said of Porziņģis' injury before the Game 5 win, “see how he responds next week.” Treatment responds.” “

Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo suffered a sprained soleus on April 9 and has not played since. Twenty-two days later, he is listed as questionable for Thursday's Game 6 against the Indiana Pacers.

Boston's backup center Luke Kornet, who will also see extended playing time in Porziņģis' absence, just returned from a milder soleus injury in a week. Porziņģis did not respond to his pressure see mildly, although he posted on X (formerly Twitter) shortly afterwards: “Thanks for all the support, it'll be okay.”

It sure Sounds as if we hadn't seen the last of Porziņģis.

“He really wants to be out there,” said Jaylen Brown, Porziņģis’ carpool partner, who scored a game-high 25 points in just 26 minutes of the narrow win. “I just know him now, he smiles, but you can tell it hurts him not to be with his team. But I just told him, 'You know we're going to keep it going this long. Just get your recovery, come back healthy.' , and we won’t miss anything when you come back, so we’re ready.”

Anyway, Horford and Kornet went to work Wednesday, the bigs for a championship favorite, a soon-to-be 38-year-old and an NBA journeyman. They combined for 10 points (on 4-for-5 shooting), 13 rebounds and five assists in 41 minutes as the Heat fell again. The Celtics barely needed Porziņģis against undermanned Miami. They also may not need him in a second-round set against the Cleveland Cavaliers or Orlando Magic. Heck, they could get through the conference finals without him.

“We still have some tests to do in these playoffs, especially with KP out, but I think we're up to the challenge,” Brown said. “I'm excited about that. We graduated.”ing. We haven’t graduated yet.”

Remember, Horford is no slouch. He is a five-time All-Star, although his last appearance was six seasons ago. He started for a Celtics team that reached the Finals just two years ago. LeBron James is the only active player who has played more postseason games than Horford. So when Miami's Bam Adebayo ran through Horford's screen in the opening play of Game 5 and tried to set the tone, it hardly fazed the veteran.

“My mindset is still the same,” said Horford, who recorded all three of his assists in Boston's 41-point opening quarter to bury the Heat. “I want to bring energy and have an impact on the game. I just think I'll probably be put in positions where I can make more offensive plays at times, and I think we saw it tonight. In the first half, JT was doubled up and he comes at me and when I come off the bench it's usually in a different context.

“One of the things that came to us this season was the possibility of winning games in different ways and with different formations,” added Mazzulla, who wants to play faster in Porziņģis' absence. “Even when KP was healthy, we were still playing small, doing a lot of stuff, playing double bigs, so you just have to develop a lot of different identities to get to different playoff series when you have different matchups, and. “We were able to do this because the boys pay attention to details and are concerned about making the game as meaningful as possible, doing everything they can to win each game and having different identities.”

Wednesday marked Horford's 75th playoff game with Tatum and Brown. (By comparison, Joe Ingles and Gary Harris are the only members of the Magic who have started this season with more than eight playoff games.) Their chemistry eases Boston's transition from one starting unit to the next.

“It helped a lot,” Horford told Yahoo Sports. “We've had a lot of success here and I've played since JB's rookie year – and Jayson's rookie year too – so there's a level of comfort and trust between us. I'm trying to do that.” The game comes easy to them and I try to find ways that I can influence and I feel like we feed off each other from the work we put in. We’re not trying to figure things out. We’ve been doing this for many years and I feel like it shows.”

Horford is also the spiritual leader of these Celts. Tatum and Brown called Horford “my favorite teammate I’ve ever had” and “one of the best off-court leaders in the NBA,” respectively. Midway through the second quarter on Wednesday, Horford grabbed consecutive offensive rebounds, drew a foul and made a play in front of Boston's bench. The crowd at TD Garden roared. The Celtics will rally around the veteran.

“Al sets the tone for us with his ability to impact the game in basketball, but also with his personality and aggressiveness,” Mazzulla said. “He set the tone for us and everyone followed suit.”

But Porziņģis was always the component that opened up a new level for this team. The Celtics traded Marcus Smart, the heart and soul of five Eastern Conference Finals appearances, for the 7-foot-3 Latvian. Porziņģis can shoot anyone from anywhere. His verticality is both a deterrent to defenses and an advantage to Boston's offense. This is a dimension the Celtics haven't had except in the second half of the 2021-22 regular season, when a healthy Robert Williams III also made them world-beaters.

And health was always the question. That's why they traded Williams and the reason why they've been so careful with Porziņģis and Horford all year. Porziņģis has never was fully healthy for a playoff run in his nine seasons. He tore his right meniscus in Game 1 of the 2020 playoffs, and his knee pain caused him to exit in the first round in 2021. He lasted until his fourth playoff game this season.

The Celtics are better with Porziņģis. There's no doubt about that, even though they're now 22-4 without him. According to Cleaning the Glass, the starting lineup of Porziņģis, Tatum, Brown, Jrue Holiday and Derrick White outscored their opponents by 12 points per 100 meaningful possessions during the regular season, rivaling the vaunted starters of the defending champion Denver Nuggets. With Horford in place of Porziņģis, this five-man unit was +1.3 points per 100 non-garbage possessions and closer to Cleveland's starting lineup.

Miami was no match for the Celtics without Porziņģis. The real testing begins now, as the size of the Cavaliers or Magic could cause problems and it will only get more difficult from there. No. 42 is ready for his call.

As Horford told Yahoo Sports, “I feel like I’m always ready.”