The Background/Pre-Injury

Kristaps Porzingis is a current center for the Boston Celtics. He was born in Liepāja, Latvia and was drafted by the New York Knicks on June 25, 2015. He’s played for multiple teams such as the New York Knicks, Dallas Mavericks, Washington Wizards and is currently the 3rd option on the Boston Celtics. He’s been playing exemplary this season averaging 20 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 2.6 stocks. However, he faced an unfortunate injury in his calf which will hurt the Celtics without his presence on the court. 

The Injury

During the game 4 win against the Miami Heat, Porzingis dealt with a calf injury in the second quarter of the game. Before the game, Porzingis was questionable in wheter he would be able to play in the game or if he would rather receive load management. Porzingis played anyway and as he was about to drive on Bam Adebayo, he strained his left calf. Porzingis experienced damage to his soleus muscle which is right under the large calf muscle. The soleus muscle is required for all athletes as it is what contributes to their movement. With a strained soleus muscle, running and jumping will result in a lot of pain. Luckily, Kristaps’ injury wasn’t as serious as some people expected it to be and he will most likely only miss out on a 1-2 games of the conference-finals.

Post Injury 

Since Kristaps didn’t expierence a severe injury, he just needed to take caution and be preventive of the soleus muscle worsening. In this scenario, the most important treatment for Porzingis is to rest. The Celtics had him rest for all the games against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round and possibly the first couple of games in the conference finals. Another treatment that’s important for Porzingis is physical therapy and the strentghing of his soleus muscle alongside nearby muscles. Luckily for the Boston Celtics, Porzingis is almost finished recovering from his injury and is ready to play in the Eastern Conference finals.