Boston Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis acknowledges the fans before Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Monday in Boston. Photo by Amanda Sabga/EPA-EFE
June 18 (UPI) -- Center Kristaps Porzingis, who played through a leg injury to help the Boston Celtics win the NBA Finals, will undergo off-season surgery, he announced.
Porzingis made the announcement during an interview with ESPN after the Celtics clinched their record-breaking 18th title with a win over the Dallas Mavericks in Game 5 on Monday in Boston.
"I will fix it," Porzingis said of his injury. "This is the most important, and after my injury healing, and all that, it's totally worth it."
Porzingis said he expects it to take a few months to recover from surgery.
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The Celtics announced last week that Porzingis sustained a torn medial retinaculum and dislocation of the posterior tibialis tendon in the leg during the third quarter of Game 2 on June 9 in Boston. He went on to miss Game 3 and Game 4. The team also described the issue as a "rare injury."
Porzingis went on to make 2 of 4 shots for five points in 16:05 of action during Monday's win. He told reporters in his postgame news conference that it "hurts on every step"
"Somehow I got it going for this game," Porzingis said. "A lot of it was for sure like the adrenaline from just playing at the Garden and playing in front of our fans and having that opportunity to close it out. And, man, I got it going."
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla praised Porzingis for playing through the injury in his postgame news conference.
"It's a huge credit to him," Mazzulla said. "Like I said, I know he's been in and out in the playoffs, but he's worked his ass off to try and get in and play as much as he could. It just says -- about the team, everyone is going to do whatever it takes to win.
"And even though he wasn't a 100%, he said he wanted to play, and he knew he could give us something. And I thought that the minutes he gave us were valuable. It speaks to who he is, and it speaks to the locker room."
Porzingis, 28, averaged 20.1 points, 7.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.9 blocks per game through 57 regular-season starts for the Celtics. The veteran big man, who joined the Celtics in an off-season trade, is under contract through 2025-26.
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