In somewhat of a surprising fashion, the Boston Celtics got a huge offensive game from one of their prime defensive stoppers, Derrick White, and cruised to a 102-88 win over the Miami Heat on Monday night, but at a heavy cost.
They immediately shift their attention to the ‘Unicorn’, Kristaps Porzingis, who pulled up lame with a non-contact calf injury in the second quarter and had a noticeable limp all the way to the locker room. He was replaced in the starting lineup by veteran Al Horford after halftime and did not return to the game.
With the W, the Celtics take a 3-1 series lead and face a closeout game at home in Boston at TD Garden. Porzingis’ status for that contest and beyond was not clear Monday night.
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said he had not gotten a postgame update on Porzingis’ condition.
“I didn’t see what happened,” Mazzulla said.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe injury occurred late in the second quarter with the Celtics leading by 16, 47-31. Porzingis took a pass from Jaylen Brown in a half-court set, then lost control of the ball while pulling up in obvious discomfort and pain. He raised his hand to get the attention of the medical staff to be taken out of the game and started to gingerly limp.
The Celtics listed him as doubtful at halftime with right calf tightness. ESPN’s senior NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski reported during the third quarter that Porzingis is scheduled to undergo an MRI on Tuesday and that early indications are that he did not suffer any structural damage or an Achilles tendon injury. He was seen in a walking boot after the game.
The injury could be disastrous for the Celtics if Porzingis is sidelined and misses a prolonged period of time. Porzingis was a critical piece in the marathon to the league’s best regular-season record at 64-18 in his first season with Boston. He averaged 20.1 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game while shooting 51.6% from the field and 37.5% from 3 in the regular season.
With Porzingis out and Boston’s All-Stars enduring a tough shooting night, White took the game over. He came out of the gate on fire with six 3-pointers in the first half and finished with a game-high 38 points along with four rebounds, three assists and three blocks.
The point total was a playoff career-high for White. He shot 15 of 26 from the field and 8 of 15 from beyond the arc. No other Celtics starter shot 50% or better from the field.
“I made a couple shots early,” said White. “That always helps. Once you make a couple, the basket looks huge.”
With White carrying the load, the Celtics jumped out to a 34-24 first-quarter lead. He started right where he left off in the second, knocking down back-to-back triples to extend Boston’s lead to 47-31. He had 22 points at halftime as Boston entered the break with a 53-36 advantage.
The Celtics went on a 5-0 run to start the second half and threatened to run away with the game before the fourth quarter. But Miami’s nightmare first-half shooting (35.6%) subsided, and the Heat rallied to close the gap to 91-78 with 5:22 remaining.
Then things went from bad to worse for the Celtics on the injury front. With just over five minutes left on the clock and Jayson Tatum holding the ball at the top of the key, officials whistled an off-ball foul on Heat guard Patty Mills.
Tatum then attempted to shoot after the whistle. Bam Adebayo challenged the shot, and Tatum landed on Adebayo’s foot, rolling his left ankle. Tatum writhed on the floor in pain for several moments, then eventually got to his feet with the help of his teammates.
Officials went to the replay monitor to review the play. The called a flagrant foul Penalty 1 on Adebayo for landing under Tatum’s feet and not giving him room to come down.
Tatum was alright and returned to the court to hit both free throws. The play stifled the Heat momentum, and Boston closed out the game from there without resistance from Miami.
Tatum had a double-double with 20 points, and crashed the glass, pulling down 11 rebounds and five assists on a poor shooting night (5 of 14). Brown tallied 17 points and six turnovers while shooting 7 of 18 from the field. White’s shooting was the overwhelming difference maker for Boston in an otherwise pedestrian night on the offensive end.
Adebayo did everything he could with 25 points, 17 rebounds and five assists. Tyler Herro scored 19 points, and Caleb Martin scored 18. No other Heat player scored in double figures. The Celtics forced 13 Heat turnovers, won the rebounding battle, 46-42 and limited Miami to 40.7% shooting from the floor and 27.3% (9 of 33) shooting from downtown.
“Offensively, we struggled again,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “We had some decent looks early on, weren’t able to knock those down, and Derrick White was very good tonight — obviously. … He was just very efficient, very good.”
The series shifts back to Boston for Game 5, where the Celtics can advance to Round 2 with a win.
