Kristaps Porzingis dealt with post viral-syndrome during Celtics playoffs
While there were a lot of frustrating aspects of the Celtics' second-round playoff loss to the New York Knicks, the mysterious illness that plagued Kristaps Porzingis is near the top of the list. While Boston's inability to close out games and Jayson Tatum's Achilles injury were bigger stories, Porzingis' inability to give the Celtics much of anything was a huge factor in the series.
In his end-of-season press conference on Monday, Celtics president of basketball ops. Brad Stevens shed a little more light on Porzingis' ailment. The Boston big man was a shell of himself against the Knicks as he dealt with "post viral-syndrome," Stevens revealed Monday. Porzingis battled an unknown illness during the regular season and his setback in the playoffs came "out of the blue," according to Stevens.
"I don't think anyone was more frustrated than him. I felt for him because the way it was describe to me was post-viral syndrome, which is just lingering effects of a long virus," Stevens explained Monday. "I thought he really turned a corner at the end of the regular season, when we went to Madison Square Garden and he was so good [against the Knicks]. Even in the first round [against the Magic]."
Porzingis still struggled against the Magic as he hit just 11.8 percent (4-of-26) from three-point range. But he was still able to play in all five games and averaged 12 points per contest, including a 20-point, 10-rebound showing in Game 2.
"For whatever reason, he didn't feel good the beginning of the Knicks series and never felt great," added Stevens. "Our expectation is that the next couple of weeks will do him good."
Porzingis was limited to 42 games during the regular season due to a number of various injuries and his illness later in the year. He averaged 19.5 points per game while knocking down 41.2 percent of his three-point attempts to go along with 7.8 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per contest during the regular season.
He averaged over 27 minutes per game in Boston's first-round series win over the Orlando Magic, but only 15.5 minutes across six games against the Knicks. He played over 20 minutes just once in the series in Game 4, and averaged just 4.2 points off 24 percent shooting overall and 22 percent from downtown over the six games.
Following Boston's season-ending loss in Game 6, Porzingis voiced frustration with all the unknown surrounding his illness.
"I'm not sure [what it is]. Even right now, I played 11 minutes and I'm gassed," he told reporters in New York. "I could just lay down right here and take a little nap, easy.
"Super, super frustrating. As frustrating as you can imagine," he added. "Just to not be able to help this team more, especially with JT going out. Just not being too much of a help, it just hurts deep inside."
Porzingis is under contract for one more season at $30.7 million. With the Celtics over the second apron and facing a big luxury tax bill and potential penalties down the road, Stevens is expected to explore trading Porzingis and his expiring deal in the offseason.
Kristaps Porzingis will play in EuroBasket 2025
While the big man was limited for the Celtics in the playoffs, Stevens revealed that Porzingis plans to play for Latvia this summer in EuroBasket 2025.
"I think that's a good thing. It's good to be playing in EuroBasket, and I'm sure [the illness will] be well cleared up by then," said Stevens.
Porzingis wasn't able to play for Latvia during the 2024 Summer Olympics as he recovered from the foot injury that hampered him during Boston's title run. EuroBasket begins toward the end of August and runs through mid-September, so the Celtics -- or perhaps another team -- will get a look at how Porzingis looks before training camp begins ahead of the 2025-26 NBA season.
