{"id":36767,"date":"2025-05-16T09:55:14","date_gmt":"2025-05-16T09:55:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/36767\/"},"modified":"2025-05-16T09:55:14","modified_gmt":"2025-05-16T09:55:14","slug":"celtics-coach-joe-mazzulla-on-kristaps-porzingis-sitting-out-second-half-of-game-5-vs-knicks-he-couldnt-breathe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/36767\/","title":{"rendered":"Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla on Kristaps Porzi\u0146\u0123is sitting out second half of Game 5 vs. Knicks: ‘He couldn’t breathe’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kristaps Porzi\u0146\u0123is<\/a> only played 12 minutes in the Boston Celtics’ 127-102 win<\/a> over the New York Knicks in Game 5 of their second-round NBA playoff series. He scored only one point, along with one rebound and a block.<\/p>\n

Asked why Porzi\u0146\u0123is didn’t play in the second half, Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla said, “He couldn’t breathe<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

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In Wednesday’s victory, that created an opportunity for Luke Kornet<\/a> to play what was likely the best game of his career with 10 points, 9 rebounds and 7 blocks. Not only was he a strong defensive presence, but he also moved well in Boston’s half-court game, setting screens and cutting to the basket for dunks and layups. (Kornet shot 5 of 5 from the floor and scored 10 points)<\/p>\n

However, Mazzulla insisted that Porzi\u0146\u0123is could have played if necessary<\/a>. But the two of them decided at halftime that he would sit out, despite the game being tied at 59-59. The coach also told reporters that he expected Porzingis to play Friday in Game 6 of the series.<\/p>\n

Mazzulla started Porzi\u0146\u0123is in Game 5 after starting Al Horford<\/a> at center for the past three games in the series. Boston went with a bigger lineup with Tatum out, starting Porzi\u0146\u0123is and Horford with Jaylen Brown<\/a> in the frontcourt. Derrick White<\/a> and Jrue Holiday<\/a> started at guard.<\/p>\n

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Mazzulla may have been right that a bigger lineup was necessary against the Knicks’ frontline with Tatum out. But it was Kornet and Sam Hauser<\/a> who provided the needed energy, especially on defense at the basket.<\/p>\n

Yet for those who believe the Celtics can’t repeat as NBA champions without Porzi\u0146\u0123is making an impact \u2014 especially with Jayson Tatum<\/a> suffering a season-ending torn Achilles injury<\/a> \u2014 the center’s lack of effectiveness has to be a concern. Porzi\u0146\u0123is has been struggling with an upper respiratory illness throughout the season<\/a>, which the Celtics say is a a non-COVID-19 illness, and played 13 minutes in Game 1<\/a>, scoring no points.<\/p>\n

“I\u2019m dealing with some \u2014 I don\u2019t know how to call it. I\u2019m just not feeling my best. I\u2019m not feeling my best at all,\u201d Porzi\u0146\u0123is said after Game 2, via Boston.com<\/a>. \u201cIt kills me inside that it\u2019s happening in this moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Porzi\u0146\u0123is said he felt better in Game 4<\/a> and played 24 minutes. But whatever energy he had on Monday wasn’t there on Wednesday. The question now for the Celtics is whether they’re a better team with Kornet on the court and if that will be enough to win two more games against the Knicks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kristaps Porzi\u0146\u0123is only played 12 minutes in the Boston Celtics’ 127-102 win over the New York Knicks in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":36768,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3766],"tags":[869,7,45,75,3798,46,1243,78,2675,2038,871,4996,6,191,1533,2080,50],"class_list":{"0":"post-36767","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boston-celtics","8":"tag-al-horford","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-boston","11":"tag-boston-celtics","12":"tag-bostonceltics","13":"tag-celtics","14":"tag-derrick-white","15":"tag-jaylen-brown","16":"tag-joe-mazzulla","17":"tag-jrue-holiday","18":"tag-kristaps-porzingis","19":"tag-luke-kornet","20":"tag-nba","21":"tag-new-york-knicks","22":"tag-porzingis","23":"tag-sam-hauser","24":"tag-tatum"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/114516913539599570","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36767","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36767"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36767\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36768"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36767"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36767"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}