Kristaps Porzingis to have tests to examine severity of calf injury after Celtics game 4 win in Miami

BOSTON -- The Celtics and Boston fans are holding their collective breath, awaiting word on Kristaps Porzingis' right calf. The C's big man will undergo imagining on Tuesday after he limped off the floor in Monday night's Game 4 win over the Heat in Miami.

Porzingis suffered a non-contact injury with Boston on top 47-31 in the second quarter, pulling up in pain after he took a pass from Jaylen Brown and tried to dribble by Bam Adebayo. He immediately raised his hand and asked out of the game, and limped gingerly to the sideline.

Porzingis appeared to tweak something a few possessions earlier when he came up limping as the Celtics ran back on defense. He remained in the game but was clearly hobbled before suffering the injury that forced him out of the game.

When he left the floor, Porzingis didn't even stop at the Boston bench. He went straight to the Celtics locker room with 2:27 left in the first half and many feared the worst based on Porzingis' reaction, as he pulled his jersey over his face while making his way down the tunnel.

The Celtics announced a short time later that Porzingis was dealing with right calf tightness and was doubtful to return. ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported later in the game that early indications are that Porzingis did not suffer an Achilles injury, but will undergo imaging on Tuesday.

Porzingis left the Kaseya Center with a walking boot on his right foot, but he also fired off a pretty positive update after the game. We'll now spend hours and hours trying to decipher what "will be good" could mean until Tuesday's tests come back.

It sounds like Porzingis avoided the worst-case scenario, but he and the Celtics are not out of the woods yet. The team did everything it could to keep Porzingis healthy and fresh for the postseason, limiting him to just 57 games during the regular season. The Celtics always took an overly cautious approach with any little tweak, in hopes of having the talented but injury-prone big man at the most important time of the year.

Even a bubble-wrapped Porzingis was the perfect fit throughout his first season with the Celtics, averaging 20.1 points while shooting 51.6 percent from the floor and 37.5 percent from deep, and adding 7.2 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game. Now we'll hope for more good news Tuesday. 

Chances are Porzingis is going to miss some time, and chances are he won't be "100 percent" the rest of the postseason. Hopefully we get a timeframe for a return Tuesday that is measured in days and not weeks. But after seeing the injury play out, we'd take weeks over months. 

It would be in Boston's best interest to close out the Heat in Game 5 on Wednesday night, earn a few extra days off ahead of the second round, and hope that Porzingis can get back sometime in the near future.