Celtics' Kristaps Porzingis questionable for Friday night vs. Pacers
BOSTON -- The Boston Celtics will look to stop their first losing streak of the season on Friday night, but they may be shorthanded when they host the Indiana Pacers at TD Garden. Big man Kristaps Porzingis and point guard Jrue Holiday are both listed as questionable for the tilt.
Porzingis being questionable is actually a promising sign, after the center sat out the second half of Wednesday's loss to the Philadelphia 76ers with a left ankle sprain. He suffered the injury in the first half of Boston's 118-114 loss but continued to play, before he was reevaluated and ruled out by Boston at halftime.
In 13 minutes against the 76ers, Porzingis scored nine points off 3-of-8 shooting (going 3-of-6 from downtown) with three assists and a pair of rebounds.
Porzingis missed the start of the season as he recovered from surgery on the rare leg injury that he suffered during the NBA Finals in June, and has been in and out of the lineup since making his season debut on Nov. 25. The big man has been dinged up in three of the 11 games that he's played in so far, though he hasn't missed any extended time with any of the injuries.
For the season, Porzingis is averaging 18.3 points off 45.3 percent shooting (but only 32.8 percent from three-point range) to go with 6.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.5 blocks per game. Surprisingly, Boston is 6-5 in games with Porzingis this season.
Holiday is questionable with a right shoulder impingement, which kept him out of Wednesday's loss to the 76ers.
Celtics losing streak
The Celtics are 22-8 for the season and sit in second place in the Eastern Conference, but they've been slumping a bit as of late. The team has lost two straight -- falling to the Magic, 108-104, Monday in Orlando before losing Christmas Day to the 76ers -- for the first time all season and has dropped three of its last four contests. Boston has lost four of its last seven games, after winning three straight to tip off December.
The Indiana Pacers -- whom the Celtics swept in the Eastern Conference Finals last summer -- are just 15-16 on the season and lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder, 120-114, Thursday night. But they took the first matchup with the Celtics, 135-132, in overtime in Indiana on Oct. 30, led by 30 points and 11 rebounds by guard Benedict Mathurin.
After Friday night's clash, the Celtics and the Pacers will be right back at it at TD Garden on Sunday night for their final matchup of the 2024-25 regular season.
